BBQ Bash adds sizzle to the weekend

Nearly 50 barbecue teams will compete in the fourth annual Bayou BBQ Bash this weekend under the U.S. 90 bridge in downtown Morgan City, according to a news release.
The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce will host a Business After Hours kick-off event for the bash from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Hampton Inn & Suites in Morgan City where visitors can meet the cooks who will compete Saturday and taste their barbecue.
The Bayou BBQ Bash is organized by the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce. The bash will begin Friday evening with live music, craft booths and food for sale and continue Saturday with the competition.
The event is a Barbecue Competitors Alliance Sanctioned State Championship competition, the release stated.
As of this morning, entries into the competition were in the mid-40s, BBQ Bash Co-founder Don Tellman said.
Competitors are coming from as far as Shreveport and Mississippi for the event, Tellman said. Cooks will begin barbecuing Friday night in preparation for Saturday’s competition.
An awards ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the release said.
Morgan City Assistant Fire Chief Mark Stephens and Danny Titus and Rhonda Titus of Youngsville have helped Tellman and his wife Mata Tellman with the event since the beginning four years ago, Don Tellman said.
In addition to the competitive teams, locals will also compete in a Corporate Cooking Team Throw-Down Challenge. Bragging rights are up for grabs for the best corporate company cooking team in St. Mary Parish as well as in a newly added local competition to name the top St. Mary Parish BBQ Team, the news release stated.
About 20 local teams will compete in the barbecue competition this year, which is the most area teams that have competed, Tellman said.
Cooks will compete for $5,000 of prize money in three meat categories including chicken, pork spare ribs and brisket, which are three of the most difficult meats to barbecue, Tellman said.
The overall highest scoring competitor will be crowned grand champion, and second place will receive recognition as reserve grand champion. The top three in each of the meat categories will receive trophies, Tellman said. Fifth through 10th place in the different categories will receive gift cards, he said. All local people will judge the competition.
Also on Saturday, there will be barbecue competitions for children. Known as the Kids Qs, children compete in two divisions. Kids 13 to 17 years old will cook chicken legs and 12 years and under will cook pork chops, the release said.
On Friday, there will be a live musical performance by Déjà Vu and Old Soul from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Live music continues Saturday when Hal Bruni and the Branded will perform from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Cliff Hillebran & the Anytime Band will close out the event, performing from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Also on Friday, arts and crafts booths will be open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Food booths selling plate lunches and beer, wine, margarita and soda booths will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Food vendors include East Gate BBQ, The Smokehouse, Latin Corner and Extreme Sports (Central Catholic High School hamburgers), the release stated.
There will be food, soft drinks, wine, margaritas and beer booths selling a variety of items, including three booths serving barbecue plate lunches, Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, according to the news release.
On Saturday, over 80 arts and crafts booths will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Kids’ Activity Zone will operate from noon to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact 985-384-3830 and visit www.stmarychamber.com, or www.cajuncoast.com/bbqbash.