The Jackson County Hunting Heroes announced the 2nd annual WV BBQ Throwdown on April 21-22nd, 2023. The event will take place at the Jackson County Fairgrounds near Ripley and carries the slogan, It’s Open Season on Meat. The KCBS barbecue festival, will feature the WV State BBQ Championships sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society for pro and backyard cooks as decreed by Governor Jim Justice in a state proclamation. In addition to a regional BBQ tasting, there will be live music, food and craft vendors, a hayride shuttle, face painting, and other family-friendly activities during the event.
“The WV BBQ Throwdown promises a fun-filled spring festival for all. On Saturday, April 23, we’re hosting a free family event that we hope BBQ cookers, military families, and the general public will attend, said Frank Miller, one of the Jackson County Hunting Heroes volunteers helping to plan it.
“We are currently inviting BBQ teams, sponsors, and vendors to sign up on our website to participate. In addition to the BBQ cook-off, we will have vendors, live music on Saturday, kids’ activities and a BBQ tasting that features Memphis, Texas, Kansas City and North Carolina style. The event is free and open to the public, but the tasting has a $10 ticket fee, and it will raise money for our programs that support veterans and military families. Previously, we held the event in downtown Ripley, which was amazing, but to better accommodate more attendees and teams, we are moving to a larger location with better parking and full camping hookups for our cook teams.”
BBQ cook team registrations are available at www.wvbbqthrowdown.com. Tasting tickets are $10 per person in advance or $15 onsite and veterans can receive a free tasting ticket. The event is also seeking volunteers and KCBS certified BBQ judges.
The full schedule can be found on the WVBBQThrowdown.com website. The event offers more than just BBQ braggin’ rights, as the prize pot is over $7,500 for this WV State BBQ Championship competition in the pro and backyard categories and will include a bid to the national BBQ Cookoff. For more details and contest rules for the KCBS BBQ Cookoff, tasting event or general festival information, visit our website and follow the festival on Facebook.