UPDATE: See the cookoff's winners at left (desktop) or at the bottom of this page (mobile users).
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CRESTVIEW — The weatherman may have said rain storms but organizers of the 12th annual Triple B barbecue festival ignored him. And they were right.
A sunny, breezy day greeted attendees at Main Street’s biggest event Saturday and as the day went on, the Blackwater, Bluegrass and BBQ Cook-Off crowds grew bigger.
“Nobody thought it was going to be this nice,” Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Valerie Lott said. “We thought it was going to be all wet and yucky, but it turned out great.”
The weather may have cooperated, but it was a neighboring event that drew some of the hoped-for barbecuers. Pensacola’s seventh annual Smokin’ in the Square ran the same day.
“We have seven competitors this year,” Lott said, noting the number was down from the 2015 Triple B’s 17 competitors.
GETTING SANCTIONED
“It’s amazing what was lost this year because of Pensacola having theirs the same day,” Boy Scout Troop 773 parent leader Mike Banks said. The troop is an annual fixture at the Triple B, selling camp cards as a fundraiser.
But that may change next year. Lott said.
“We’re looking into getting sanctioned (by the Florida Barbecue Association) next year,” she said. “Membership would guarantee us competitors. But it’s a long process.”
That’s one of the main reasons the festival remained unsanctioned, though it follows Florida Barbecue Association rules, said Cal Zethmayr, one of the cook-off’s founders. Another reason is it allowed the then-small local event to draw non-member backyard smokers, he said.
Today, many pit masters only compete in officially sanctioned cook-offs, Lott’s husband, Derek, a former chamber president, said.
Among the barbecuers who appeared in Crestview again this year was “BBW-ologist” Po Wigg, whose Two Brothers Barbecue came up from Fort Walton and drew a long line outside their family-run food stand.
LONG AND SLOW
Like other pit masters, Wigg had set up Friday and evening and started smoking. The secret to good barbecue is taking your time, “long and slow,” he said.
“You don’t come for the grill,” he said. “You come for the barbecue. We’ve been cooking all night.”
Annie and Robb Bush and their six children savored barbecue from the Little Smokehouse with a sugar-dusted funnel cake for dessert, clustered around a shady patch of sidewalk near the bounce houses.
“We frequently come to the festival,” Annie Bush said. “It’s fun for the kids, and this was good brisket.”
With lots of “long and slow” barbecue and festival food to choose from, and vendors including community service organizations, crafters, martial arts academies, auto dealers and politicians seeking votes, there was plenty to do for families strolling up and down Main Street.
“It was a great day for us,” chamber Triple B committee chairman Mike Roy said.
Grand Champion: Ranch House
Reserve Champion : Little Smokehouse
People's Choice: Little Smokehouse
Chicken:
1st place: Two Brothers BBQ
2nd place: Ranch House
3rd Place: Matthews BBQ
Ribs:
1st place: Two Brothers BBQ
2nd place: Ranch House
3rd Place: Little Smokehouse
Pork:
1st place: Little Smokehouse
2nd place: Ranch House
3rd Place: Matthews BBQ
Brisket:
1st place: Little Smokehouse
2nd place: Ranch House
3rd Place: Matthews BBQ
WINNERS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Triple B BBQ festival fills Main Street (PHOTOS, VIDEO)