Revisiting Shelby, NC, For A Two-Day BBQ Cookoff

Few events have cookoffs for two days. Most contests begin with team arrivals on Friday and a serious day of competition on Saturday. However, the Shelby (N.C.) BBQ Extravaganza took the opportunity to have two cookoffs on successive days after the teams had arrived on Friday — the first on Saturday and the second on Sunday. Both events crowned winners and awarded points for the very important annual team championship.

Teams set up for two days of competition.

Shelby BBQ Extravaganza

The Extravaganza was the first cookoff sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society in Shelby that I had attended since 2015, a very long time for a judge. Hog Happenin’, the previous contest, ended when the organizers ran out of energy. A new energetic, younger team is heading up the current event, and they have a lot of enthusiasm.

Judges relax in a fairground building before the first entries are turned in.

Hog Happenin’ had been held for 25 years. Its end saddened more than a few faces. The inaugural Extravaganza was held last year, and the event this year continued to build interest in holding an annual cookoff in Shelby, the home of the legendary Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge.

Artistic prizes for the winning teams await the judging results.

Two Days of Winners

Held at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, the event actually produced winners on both days. Fortunately, I was able to judge each day. The entries that we judged were superior — indicative of the many quality teams participating in the competition.

Several historic buildings are part of the fairgrounds scene.

Many top cooks in KCBS were competing because the event occurs on the last weekend that teams can earn points for the annual KCBS team championship. Because each day produced winners, teams could double the points they typically can earn in a competition on a weekend. In fact, points earned on both days of the contest could determine the number-one team in KCBS for the year. The top team for day one was Rooter-N-Tooters; on day two, the top team was Off the Rack BBQ.

The turn-in table gets ready for the first samples.

Judging in Shelby was even more rewarding than you might expect. On the way home, I stopped at Tony’s Ice Cream on Gastonia. What a way to end a BBQ weekend!

Rooters-N-Tooters won the competition on the first day.