Celebrating Agriculture in Burlington with a Cookoff

Homegrown in the Park is an annual celebration of agriculture in Alamance County of North Carolina. A combined celebration and “agricultural experience,” it showcases the past, present, and future of agriculture in the county and is held in City Park in downtown Burlington by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

Cooking teams set up behind the YMCA  building.

The event includes antique tractors and other farm equipment, exhibits, demonstrations, live music, and other entertainment. The Farm Bureau once had organized tours of area farm. Because it decided that a farm day in the downtown area would attract a larger audience, it changed the format to bring “the farm to the city.”

Trophies are ready for the winners.

Although some people also come for the free ice cream that they receive after visiting the exhibits, more people probably attend for the free barbecue sandwiches that is also provided. The barbecue is prepared by pitmasters who compete in a whole hog cookoff that is part of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series sponsored by the N.C. Pork Council.

Judging gets underway at 8 a.m. Photo by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

All the preparations and cooking occur during the night to be ready for the judging that begins at 8 a.m. This year 12 pitmasters competed for the top prizes, and judging was finished around 9 a.m. However, because the public doesn’t start showing up until 10 a.m., the only part of the whole hog cook that they see (and taste) are the sandwiches. The activities of the event continue until 4 p.m.

After being judged, each pitmaster chops barbecue for the sandwiches.

The top three finishers qualify to advance and compete in the state cookoff in September to determine the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion among all contest winners this year. Chris Fineran, who already placed first in an event in the series earlier this year, won top honors at Homegrown in the Park. 

The line forms early for free barbecue sandwiches. Photo by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

Burlington is the place to be each April to celebrate farm history, experience agriculture in a park setting, and enjoy barbecue sandwiches (with ice cream). However, without farmers and pitmasters, this event couldn’t celebrate as magnificently as it does.

After all judging activities have been completed, it's time for a picture.

Improving an Agricultural Celebration by Adding a Whole Hog Cookoff

Homegrown in the Park, an annual festival in Burlington, NC, was begun by the Farm Bureau of Alamance County as a way to “bring the farm to the city” by holding a farm day in a city park. Previously, the bureau had offered tours of neighboring farms to educate the public about local agriculture.

Several teams created an inviting atmosphere at their cook sites that added to the ambiance of the festival.

The county has become increasingly urban, led by the growth of Burlington, its largest city, and Graham, the county seat. In recent decades, the population of the county has grown by as much as 20 percent. Farms have been lost as new residential areas have been created. Because many residents live in the county but work elsewhere, it is often described as a “bedroom community,” and appreciating its agriculture is important because the number of its farms have declined by 70 percent over the last century.

Impressive trophies were taken home by the finalists.

In its first three years, the festival drew increasingly large crowds by offering educational exhibits and displays to celebrate local agriculture -- music and free food were additional enticements to attend. For its fourth year, the festival was expanded to include a whole hog cookoff, and sanctioning by the N.C. Pork Council was obtained so finalists could advance and compete in the state championship, the culmination of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series.

Barbecue chopped by a team after being judged was served on plates to the public.

The whole hog cookoff seems to be exactly what the festival needed to complete its celebration of the county’s agricultural traditions and heritage. Barbecue from the cookoff is served to the public, and nothing brings out a crowd like excellent barbecue cooked by competitive teams. For its first cookoff, the festival attracted 14 teams. Although several had not competed in the Whole Hog Barbecue Series before, they all produced superior barbecue. The three other judges and I were impressed with how most pigs were scored high in areas of skin crispness, brownness, moisture, and appearance.

The pig cooked by Blue Pig BBQ, now in shambles after being judged, took home first-place honors.

With a whole hog cookoff now a major part of the festival, Homegrown in the Park is guaranteed to continue to grow and attract large crowds as its organizers and sponsors celebrate local agriculture.