Georgia Magazine - August 2017 - 31

COURTESY CITY OF KENNESAW

Barbecue competitions aren't about the food alone. Kennesaw's
Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival includes a Kid Zone, a family-friendly
playground.

promotes the festival.
Looking for a way to bring people to Waynesboro,
the Downtown Organization of Retailers (DOR) founded
the Boss Hog Cook-Off in 2005. The community of
6,000 draws about 1,500 attendees and 42 of the region's
top teams each May.
"It really has a small-town feeling and gives our residents a sense of pride, but it's also made Waynesboro
better-known," says Elizabeth Billips, a founding organizer. First National Bank and the DOR co-chair
the event.
The fun is small-town friendly, but the planning
is city-savvy. The festival is sanctioned by the KCBS to
draw top teams. Mr. Golf Carts, a local golf-cart distributor, provides a perfect outdoor venue, and local businesses raise the $21,000 in prize money. More than 100
employees from First National Bank volunteer. There are
free carnival rides for kids and People's Choice Awards,
and town leaders compete in the charity Queen of the
Wings Beauty Pageant.
The festival has its own Boss Hogg, the politician
from "The Dukes of Hazzard," in white suit and cowboy
hat and a vintage red Mercury Cougar, complete with
steer horns on the front and a horn that plays "Dixie."
"The grand champion gets whisked away for a
victory lap. Everyone wants to ride in the car," Billips
says.
Laura Raines is a freelance writer from Mableton
and a member of GreyStone Power Corp.
If you are planning to attend a festival with a barbecue competition, be aware that the public is not always allowed to sample
the competitors' work. Most festivals have on-site vendors
selling barbecue to satisfy attendees' cravings, however.
August 2017

At the Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival in Kennesaw, a cook from J.D.'s
Bar-B-Que in Acworth prepares ribs in a firebox smoker the oldfashioned way: slowly over hickory wood.

Some barbecue competitions in Georgia
Here are a few events you can plan to attend this year:
* Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival, Kennesaw, Aug. 25-26,
pigsandpeaches.com
* South Georgia BBQ & Outdoor Festival, Douglas, Sept. 8-9,
bit.ly/douglasbbq
* The Real Squeal BBQ & Music Festival, Lyons, Oct. 13-14,
therealsqueal.com
* Big Pig Jig, Vienna, Nov. 3-5, facebook.com/bigpigjigevent
And here are a few you can plan to attend next year:
* Georgia BBQ Championship Annual Banquet and Winter
Throwdown, Brasstown Valley, Young Harris, February,
brasstownvalley.com
* Sip & Swine BBQ Festival, Lawrenceville, March,
sipandswine.com
* Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival, Tifton, March, tiftonribsfest.com
* Fire Ant Festival, Ashburn, March, fireantfestival.com
* Flames on the Flint, Bainbridge, March, flamesontheflint.com
* Boss Hog Cook-Off, Waynesboro, May, bosshogcookoff.com
* Smoke on the Water BBQ Cook-Off and Music Festival,
Thomaston, May, sotwfestival.com/info
For a complete list of the Georgia Barbecue Association's
sanctioned events, see bbqga.org.

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

http://www.pigsandpeaches.com http://www.bit.ly/douglasbbq http://www.therealsqueal.com http://www.facebook.com/bigpigjigevent http://www.brasstownvalley.com http://www.sipandswine.com http://www.tiftonribsfest.com http://fireantfestival.com http://www.flamesontheflint.com http://bosshogcookoff.com http://www.sotwfestival.com/info http://www.bbqga.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

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