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Music Brews & BBQ Championships

Music Brews & BBQ Championship was conceived back in 2008 while visiting a Big Green Fest in Tempe, AZ. I had traveled to Tempe with our BBQ team to help promote a new Big Green Egg Dealer at an Egg Fest. We were just going to prepare and serve great special barbecue recipes for the public and give them out for free. That evening when I talked to Cheryl she mentioned why couldn’t we do something like that for a community charity fundraising event. Well this was in October of 2008, and by February of 2009 we had our first public BBQ challenge and taste sampling event in Lake Havasu. In the months prior to having this event we started seeking sponsors, and by the day of the first challenge we had more interest than we could ever imagine. This is when we were approached and asked by city officials, sponsors and local businesses if there was a way to make this event much bigger. Cheryl and I researched out professional barbecue competitions and the name that always keep popping up was KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society). In May of 2009 we started training with KCBS Reps and with help from several of the best west coast events and promoters we set the date to begin our venture in professional BBQ Championships.

February 2010 was to be the first ever professional barbecue in Lake Havasu City, but we had no idea what was in store for us. We had hoped that with our location, climate and the wonderful venue right on the Colorado River and the lake that this would really bring teams to our city. Originally we had projected that if we could get around 25-30 teams and have an estimated attendance of 3000-5000 this would be a successful event. As we began to promote this first year event in a market of over 400 KCBS competitions across the country we couldn’t believe what happened next. By December of 2009 we had already received over 50 team entries and had an additional 30+ craft and food vendors who had expressed interest. On the weekend of the event we finalized our numbers with 74 pro comp teams, 18 food vendors and an additional 70 craft, wholesale and retail vendors, soaring our event into the record books for being the largest sanctioned state BBQ competition in all of Arizona. Over the next few years we have continued growing our event and now have some 30 sponsors, as many as 84 teams in a single year from 22 states. We now have in additional to the Main BBQ Championship family entertainment with carnival rides, music, car & bike show with one of the largest vendor shows in the area. Currently this year we have started our newest event in the City of Needles coming this October 5/6, 2012, and have plans to begin new venues in several other locations. If you think this type of event is something your city or organization would like to have please feel free to contact us.

• Interagency Food Bank
• Havasu 4 Youth Programs
• Haven House Food 4 Kids School Program
• One (1) additional Kids Program yet to be determined