The festival started in 2000 as a fundraiser for EarlyWorks Museum. The Whistle Stop Festival and Rocket City BBQ Championship has grown to fill its space capacity of 60 cookers in the competition for amateurs and professionals alike. The prize money is awarded to the top three places in five categories: chicken, pork ribs (loin or spare), pork (shoulder/butt), brisket (beef) and dessert. The Rocket City grand champion is entered in the pool for the Jack Daniels World Championship held in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
The Rocket City BBQ is held annually in May at the Historic Huntsville Depot, hence, it's name of Whistle Stop. This local barbecue competition is a sanctioned Kansas City Barbeque Society event. The mission of the Kansas City Barbeque Society is "...to celebrate, teach, preserve, and promote barbecue as a culinary technique, sport and art form. Their goal is to have barbecue recognized as America's Cuisine." Now if that isn't talking like a true Southerner, I don't know what is!
Barbecue has a special place in the South and is an almost year round activity. This festival is a tribute to our heritage. Visiting with the different barbecue experts made me realize just how serious a "business" this grilling and smoking is. Some competitors go to a cook-off every week, while others may go every other weekend or once a month. A few local Huntsville area grillers may only compete once a year at our own Whistle Stop Festival & Rocket City BBQ event.
I found out that the grillers prepare more food than they will be entering in the competition so they can select the best meat to present to the judges. So, there's lots of cooking, grilling and smoking going on. Once the judging is over, the cookers have a lot of meat to dispose of--that's when it's great to know one of the teams in the competition. They are anxious to clean up and clear out after a long weekend. I was lucky and the Pooles from New Hope invited me to share some of their barbecue on Friday night while they were having a little family get-together before the serious grilling started the next day. Delicious!
Whether you enter the competition or just like to enjoy barbecue, you'll enjoy the smells, sounds and atmosphere at this event. Mark your calendar for the first weekend in May and plan to attend every year.
My Whistle Stop Festival & Rocket City BBQ Photos
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