Five grilling greats from across the country will spend July 10-13 in Rochester, NY armed with secret family recipes, homemade ribs, and a truckload of trophies to prove their BBQ is the best.

From July 10 through 13, the Highland Park Festival Site in Monroe County’s Highland Park hosts the annual grilling competition. Natural born grillers who love the smell of charcoal in the morning fight for the titles of "Greatest Ribs", "Greatest Sauce" and the prestigious prize of "People's Choice." To prove their passion for Bar-B-Que, the pit bosses will grill and serve more than one-half million juicy ribs throughout the barbecue bash weekend (estimated!).

The best way to decide who deserves the top prize is to take an adventure down "Ribber Row" and sample some of the nation's best beefy ribs, pulled pork, brisket and an assortment of sweet and spicy sauce varieties. Experience grilling styles and compare barbecue flavors from award-winning grill teams from South Carolina, Minnesota, Texas and Canada!

THE SWEET SMELL OF VICTORY!
After four days in the pits, find out who is the ultimate grill master! On Sunday, July 13 at 2:00pm the finger-lickin-good Awards Ceremony will crown a 2008 champion and dish out some well-deserved hardware! The winners will receive:

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD CONTEST
This contest takes the science and scrutiny out of barbecue judging and puts it where it counts - in the people's taste buds! This is YOUR chance to cast a vote for the coveted "People's Choice" award! Visit the WX?? booth and spin the WX?? Birthday Wheel during select hours of the Rib Cook-Off for the chance to become an official "People's Choice" judge. "People's Choice" judging will take place a minimum of three (3) times a day.

MEET THE CONTENDERS…

Texas Pit Bar-B-Que

Willingham’s


From 1983 - 1991, John Willingham, won almost every BBQ award there was to win. As family, we would savor the times we had the opportunity to share and enjoy his World Champion BBQ when on those special occasions a few slabs of ribs would make their way up to Minnesota from Memphis. In 1992, Uncle John brought his entire BBQ rig from Memphis to Minnesota for the first annual Twin Cities Rib Fest! During this event, the lines of people at the Willingham's booth seemed to never end; 30-40 people in all four lines from noon until 10.

During the course of the 4-day festival, people kept returning to Willingham’s multiple times within a single day and in several cases day after day. What made it really special was when they would come back they usually brought their family, friends and neighbors with them. Then on Sunday afternoon came the awards ceremony. Willingham’s was awarded the 1st Place People’s choice award. What astounded us was that Willingham's BBQ had garnered more customer votes than all other 13 BBQ vendors combined! That single moment became the inspiration behind World Champion Foods.
http://www.willinghamsbbq.com