Greetings to all!

I've been toying with an idea for some time now. I have no idea how to make it work, though. :noidea: I know it can, it does elsewhere. It's more an idea to get our town to get out and make friends more than anything else.:toast:

I'd like to organize a community ribfest. Nothing big or fancy. Not a lot of special rules and hoops to jump through. Just a friendly gathering of people that like BBQ and maybe some kind of judging with prizes that would mean something to local people.

The only thing I'd really like to emphasize is that each entrant would need to have some kind of sample table with treats for visitors. :drooling:

I might have a lead on a local company that would underwrite expenses in exchange for "Sponsored By" type advertising. We have a fair number of local butcher shops and stores that might be willing to offer specials for registered participants. Our county produces one helluva lot of pork.

It would be really cool if the whole thing could expand to include a chili cook off some time in the future.

I've tried looking for some kind of path to follow, but keep coming up empty.

Has anyone here done something similar? Perhaps, if it grows, it could turn more 'professional', but that's not what I want. Just Uncle Joe and Aunt Mable out for a good time, old friends becoming re-acquainted.

There are a lot of parks in the area that could support a good sized gathering, some with lake access for swimmers and boaters.

So, what kind of job am I trying to tackle here? Any ideas for general rules? Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanx.

dude, i was just thinkin' this evening 'bout doin sumthing like this for a church event. saturday parking lot deal, maybe a fund raiser?

good luck

Hey!

After posting and thinking a bit, I thought about this possibly being a fundraiser for area youth groups, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, local mentoring. Great idea you had there! Thanks.

Great idea. Call the local Health Dep't. Good luck. :noidea:

Great idea. Call the local Health Dep't. Good luck. :noidea:

If I recall, you live here in MN. Technically, if you are not selling a product, you can give it away to the public, without jumping through the licensing and inspection BS. But its kind of a grey area, possibly subject to the conditions of the municipality you live in. A lot of it will depend on how you organize the event. If you charge admission, that could be construed as "selling", which would probably make it a real hassle to offer up Q. Fill us in on some more details, and maybe we can help you a bit more.

U think you can get more than a couple guys to cook?
The first thing you need is cash for prizes, nobody cooks for free.
You cant even think about passing out food without the HD getting involved and that will prety much take the wind out of your sails.

Where are you located? The GLBBQA is a great help for contests like this, maybe you have a local association by you.

How big of a town are we talking here? Would you be expecting hundreds or thousands of people?

U think you can get more than a couple guys to cook?
The first thing you need is cash for prizes, nobody cooks for free.
You cant even think about passing out food without the HD getting involved and that will prety much take the wind out of your sails.

Where are you located? The GLBBQA is a great help for contests like this, maybe you have a local association by you.

I cook real good for free. All the time.

We have an event like that here every July. They have a rib comp and the competitors cook ribs to sell to the public to fund the event.

It doesn't cost any $ to enter and they supply the ribs for comp. No prize money, just T-shirts. Would be nice to get paid, but it is a good time.

Not real big, but we did have 16 teams last year. Good times. Just a great reason to get together, cook all day and sauce ourselves.

Oh yeah, they do supply the competitors with well stocked coolers.:cheers:

:thumb: I've wanted to do that in my hometown as well, but it seemed like a lot of red tape, and a kinda big pain in the a**, so we're talking about having a neighborhood party, were us neighbors can get together, cookout, and socialize

Thanx for the comments.

Yeah, the health department is my big worry. I need to talk to them first to see if I can jump their hoops.

Minnesota is the state, we are far south central. Dangerously close to Iowa:lol:
Population is about 10,000. Not sure how many would enter this kind of thing. We have a pork cook off at the county fair, but that's more restaurants than what I'm looking for. A successful first time would probably have 5 to 10 teams. Having a couple hundred visitors/spectators would be cool. That would include kids.

I had thought about an admission fee, but that may not be the best way to go. I think it would have a better chance with no fees. Maybe sell some t-shirts or something like that.

The best park location has two swimming beaches, shelter house and restrooms. This summer would probably be cutting it short, time wise, so I'm sure next year would be easier to plan for.

Jerry, that sounds like something that would be allot of fun, and allot of work, but could be worth it. Aren't you over by Windom or that area? I think the first place you should contact would be the local dept. of health. Let them know what your ideas are and go from there. I don't know so much about prize money, maybe some trophies. I would think that if you offered a challenge to the locals and the surrounding areas to come on out and show of their Q, not the ones that do it for money, but the ones that seek bragging rights amongst their friends, you might have a pretty good turn out. :noidea: Although you might have a few here or there that have done a few comps, I don't know. I think by limiting any prize money or keep it to something like T-shirts, trophies, some big gift certificates from large vendors that would be willing to sponsor like Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Lowes ect, you might get quite a few participants. One will never know unless they try.

we did a church chilli cook off last feb. 20 crock pots full of chilli and raised $600.00. i know that it is not goobs of money but it was a great fun time :thumb:

We have an event like that here every July. They have a rib comp and the competitors cook ribs to sell to the public to fund the event.

It doesn't cost any $ to enter and they supply the ribs for comp. No prize money, just T-shirts. Would be nice to get paid, but it is a good time.

Not real big, but we did have 16 teams last year. Good times. Just a great reason to get together, cook all day and sauce ourselves.

Oh yeah, they do supply the competitors with well stocked coolers.:cheers:

MY MAN!!! you need to tell me about this some more! I'd love to come down and do a little cook like that. hell... if they are supplying the food and beer, i think i could manage to supply the charcoal. lol

Later,
Andy

just call it a pot luck. Once money and sponsors get into the mix it can get more dificult.

I have done one the past couple years on my property. No hassles from the law or Health Dept.

Last year I did a whole hog, and we had a couple folks with smokers, the year before we had 10 smokers, folks just brought, prepared and shared what they made.

No one at my get togethers was looking to make a dime, it was about hanging out with friends , sharing, eating, smoking, drinking, etc., not awards or $$$$.

I had close to 100 people each year. Not doing it this year due to a sickness in the family, hoping to resume the tradition next year.

Good luck organizing your event, they are alot of work, but alot of fun.

here's a basic question that no one seems to have asked yet... is there a checklist of things to buy/acquire, or any rule of thumbs like 1/2 lb of meat per adult, 1/4 lb per kid, etc? i am doing a small one (hopefully) at my place within the next month or so and can keep things in my head pretty well, but if I were to do a larger family reunion style gathering, i'd be looking at closer to 150 people. we usually rent out a hall that seats 150 comfortably, and there are still kids up running around, adults standing, etc...

Later,
Andy

July 9th. Germanfest in Syracuse. Last I knew, they are doing the ribfest again this year. It will be the 11th annual. Last year was my first year competing. No payout, just free beer.

It's a good time. Usually hotter than hell and I got sunburned to shit last year. I'll have a couple canopies this year.

MY MAN!!! you need to tell me about this some more! I'd love to come down and do a little cook like that. hell... if they are supplying the food and beer, i think i could manage to supply the charcoal. lol

Later,
Andy

sweet. I just looked it up and they don't have any info on it yet, but i bookmarked the page. if all goes half-way decent this year, i shouldn't have an issue making it down. thanks for the heads up!

Later,
Andy

Cool. It's a good time. Hope you can make it.

The more the merrier.

sweet. I just looked it up and they don't have any info on it yet, but i bookmarked the page. if all goes half-way decent this year, i shouldn't have an issue making it down. thanks for the heads up!

Later,
Andy

Usually, if you give food away, or keep it small and on a weekend, you won't have much problem from the health dept folks...

I checked out the rules and such. Not much chance I'm going to do this, not without a lot more resources than I have. Checked with a few people that love to barbecue, no one was willing to say they would enter, but all said they would come to eat. :noidea:

Maybe this summer I'll visit a couple and talk to the organizers about how they get past everything.

The idea of a community get-together is a great one! I hadn't considered that, but it would probably be the best way to go, if I can find out a few people will cook and/or bring something.

i'm now thinking i'll start with something really small, like a sunday school group and trying to grow it from that. i know of several guys that smoke in that group and i am certain that they can be will be thinking i can do it better than that. and away it goes? okay maybe not :lol:

I checked out the rules and such. Not much chance I'm going to do this, not without a lot more resources than I have. Checked with a few people that love to barbecue, no one was willing to say they would enter, but all said they would come to eat. :noidea:

Maybe this summer I'll visit a couple and talk to the organizers about how they get past everything.

The idea of a community get-together is a great one! I hadn't considered that, but it would probably be the best way to go, if I can find out a few people will cook and/or bring something.


what if you were to run it as a donation-based only event, and donate the profits to a charity or group? for example, the boy scouts or a church. get a couple of guys from that group to help... have them buy the materials, and you just supply the smoker?

or possibly for something like the Red Cross? you supply everything, ask for donations, re-coup your costs, and give the rest to the charity? I know the latter sounds like you are "skimming off the top", but i don't really know of any other way to say it.

typically, (when i was in scouts), we would hold events like that pretty regularly and never had a problem covering our costs. when people know their money will help their community, they are a lot more likely to give.

Later,
Andy