Everyone will be roasting. But when the smoke clears, who will be boasting?
The Roast-n-Boast BBQ Cooking Contest returns to the Columbus Fairgrounds today and Saturday. The food festival formerly known as the Possum Town Pig Fest is coming back for its 28th year.
Close to 40 barbecue teams from all over the country, from as far as New York, will submit their supreme cuisine for a slew of contests, including but not limited to: barbecue sauce, baked beans, chicken, brisket, ribs, shoulders and the pork-free Anything But category.
But the real prize is the Memphis Barbecue Network Mississippi Grand Championship.
“As far as we”re concerned, it”s the cookoff,” says Paul Clardy, president of the Roast-n-Boast festival.
The team with the highest composite score in the all-pork categories will represent Mississippi in the Memphis Barbecue Network”s national championship. If the Roast-n-Boast grand champs have already granded somewhere else, the first-place team will move up to represent Mississippi.
Of course, there”s also the more immediate reward of $2,500 for the grand champs, which has attracted teams from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Roast-n-Boast also attracts upwards of 5,000 revelers for food, music and a sweet smoky atmosphere.
Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday at the Fairgrounds and won”t close until midnight. Music will be provided from 8 p.m. to midnight by the Spunk Monkees out of Tupelo. Food will be provided by vendors selling everything from pulled pork to snow cones. And the competing teams will take part in the pork-free Anything But contest.
Gates open at noon Saturday, and the party lasts until 1 a.m. Columbus” own Trademark takes the stage from 8 p.m. to midnight, and the grand champion team will be crowned at 7 p.m.
Last year”s grand champs, Yazoo Delta Q, will return to defend their title. The three categories in the big boy contest will be: shoulders, ribs and whole hog.
This is the first year Roast-n-Boast features dual contests. The Jack Daniels Qualifier contest will be judged on: chicken, brisket, shoulders and ribs.
The Jack Daniels winning team will be entered in a lottery for the chance to compete at a cookoff in Lynchburg, Tenn.
Also, the Back Yard contest will pit the smaller teams against one another for $500. But the Back Yard winners don”t stay amateur for long. If they return the next year they have to move up to the MBN contest.
Roast-n-Boast visitors hoping to get a taste of the contest foods are advised to bring a friendly attitude, because the competing teams can give samples away, but they can”t sell them.
You might get the hometown hook-up from one of several local teams competing in the MBN contest.
Mike Langford of Caledonia, head cook for Leroy”s OIC, has been in the contest since its inception in 1981. Langford”s team won it all in 1984 and has three Back Yard titles.
Things have changed a little since those days. Langford says his team used to cook over live charcoal, which remains his personal preference. But for the contest he”ll be using a water smoker utilizing indirect heat.
But Langford”s intentions aren”t all about the competition.
“I enjoy being around friends we don”t see but maybe once a year,” he said.
Mickey Fromm of Columbus, head of Backyard Roasters, has been cooking competitively since 1992. Fromm comes equipped with a custom-made roaster built from an old butane tank.
The Backyard Roasters have come close to being the top hogs. They”ve taken first place twice and second place once.
For Fromm, Roast-n-Boast is a family affair.
“It”s just a passion me and my son have,” he said.
Brothers Charles and George Sobley of Columbus also have a family stake in Roast-n-Boast. Their Pig Diggers will face off against, among others, their other brother Mitchell Sobley and the River Tail Twisters.
“It”s just a good time. We”re not in it for the money,” says George Sobley.
The brothers have won the Anything But contest several times and won the baked beans competition last year, but they”ve never ranked higher than second in the main competition.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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