For Madison city residents, a new barbecue cookoff is coming to town. The first-ever Smoke in the Outfield BBQ Festival will be held Friday (August 4) and Saturday (August 5) at Toyota Field, home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
The event will be a Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned event. Kansas City Barbeque Society is the world’s largest barbecue organization for grillers, sanctioning more than 450 barbecue contests like this one each year.
At Toyota Field, roughly 70 cook teams from all across the South will fire up their grills and compete for a chance to win prizes. Lindsey Knupp, the executive vice president of the Trash Pandas, said this event is a great way for Southern cooks to show off their skills and their chops.
“The cook teams want to come out because they want to have the pride of being number one,” she said. “The Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctions these tournaments in Tennessee, Mississippi and all across the nation. These cook teams follow where there is a sanctioned event, so that they can try to win and have bragging rights in different categories. I think it's just fun for people who have the cookers and the smokers. They bring their family. They come out. They make it a party. They make it a whole experience that weekend for themselves.”
Festivities begin Friday with a VIP Opening Night Celebration from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. Friday night ticketholders will have an opportunity to enjoy live entertainment and drink specials, meet the participating cook teams and even test their luck on a mechanical bull. Alabama-based jam and funk group Lamont Landers Band will perform on the Inline Electric Rock Court. Toyota Field will also have inflatable bounce houses and face painting for children to enjoy.
The cookoff is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cook teams will compete for Best Chicken, Best Ribs and the People’s Choice Awards. Eighty-five on-site judges will rate the teams’ chicken and ribs dishes. However, in the People’s Choice category, Saturday Sampling ticketholders will receive up to eight pork butt samples. These visitors will then give a ticket to their favorite pork butt dish. The team with the highest number of tickets will win People’s Choice. Select cook teams in each category will win barbecue smokers, trophies and other prizes. The first-place overall winner will receive a grand cash prize of $1,500. The second-place overall winner will receive $1,000.
Knupp said the Smoke in the Outfield BBQ Festival is a time for Madison residents to see a different side of their favorite city.
“[It] definitely gives you another way to experience Toyota Field and town Madison,” she said. “It is an entertainment district. There's a lot of things happening here in town, so this is a very unique opportunity to be part of this experience. You get to be in the outfield, be inside and outside the ballpark, [enjoy] some beverages, [enjoy] the sunshine and live entertainment. Anything we can do to bring the community out here for a different experience other than Trash Pandas Baseball is hugely important for us and the community here.”
Knupp said the festival also helps drive tourism to the area for years to come.
“The cook teams that are coming, some have obviously never been to the ballpark,” she said. “They don't even know that this is a baseball stadium. I think this will give them an experience of, ‘Wow, this is a great venue. Oh my gosh, this is a great logo.’ Maybe they shop in the merchandise store. Maybe they do want to come back and enjoy a Trash Pandas game, or they see something here locally that they drive by and [think], ‘Oh man, I didn't realize this was here in Huntsville or this was here close to us.’ It [lets] them see different things that we have to offer here, and hopefully they come back.”
Registration for cook teams is closed, but tickets can be purchased online by visiting the Trash Pandas’ website. Saturday Sampling Tickets are $40 per person and first come, first serve. Only 180 sampling tickets will be available. VIP Tickets are $45 per person and include a Saturday Sampling Ticket and Friday Opening Night Ticket. Residents interested in simply attending the event can purchase a two-day pass. Passes are $15 per adult and $12 per child. Children ages 2 and under get in for free.
For residents or visitors who cannot attend this year’s Smoke in the Outfield BBQ Festival, Toyota Field is hosting another signature event during the spooky season. The Trash Pandas’ Fall Festival Movie Night is Oct. 28 from 5 to 9 p.m. Gates will be open for trick-or-treating, costume wearing and pumpkin decorating. The night will end with a movie on the video board for guests to enjoy. Tickets for the Fall Festival are also available on the Trash Pandas’ website.
