Barbecue enthusiasts invited to take part in contest

Southeast Missourian

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will hold its 12th annual BBQ Fest Friday and Saturday at Arena Park. The two-day event will give the area's top backyard grilling, smoking and barbecuing teams a chance to compete for pride and cash -- including a $300 grand prize.

The festival gets underway Friday at 1 p.m., when teams can check in. From then until close at 11 p.m., there will be children's activities, spirits for the adults, and concessions and socializing for all.

At 7 p.m., the showmanship contest begins. Teams entertain the public, judges and each other with skits, decorations, costumes and crowd participation. The top three teams will receive trophy or ribbon awards.

The festivities continue on Saturday as the real competition heats up with teams cooking from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Throughout the afternoon, teams will display entries in four categories: boneless beef strip steak, pork steak, pork ribs and pork roast.

Trophies and $100 will be awarded to the winners in each class, as will other cash prizes to the next four finishers. Then the teams that participate in all four categories and win first or second in at least one of them will be eligible to be named one of the three grand champions. The first-place grand champion will receive $300.