Lakeland

[Mike - CSBBBQ]

Hoping to be able to mix business with pleasure. Might have a trip to Orlando at the end of January. How is the Lakeland contest? Are the sites on grass? Water hook ups to each site? According to the webpage electric is not available to everyone which could be an issue. It would be a long ride from Maryland but missing the comps... Thanks

[Rolling Smoke]

Mike, I cooked the Lakeland contest in 2006 and would do it again in a heartbeat if I had the chance. The event is held at Tiger Town and as best as I can remember, everyone was on blacktop. We carried what water we needed and we pulled 110v from an outlet about 20' away. DR BBQ or Rub either one would be able to give you a better account as Lakeland is in their backyards. Either way it was a helluva lot better being in Lakeland in January than Ohio.

[drbbq]

The spots are all on blacktop like Jim said and there is power and water but it's sporadic and sometimes the circuits get pretty loaded up. There's going to be a pot luck on Thursday night this year so I would expect that almost all of the teams will be in place by then so it may be tough to get hooked up on Friday.

But it is Florida in January and a very popular contest with cooks from all over. The field is very impressive. They allow vending too. Sell whatever you want as long as you use the pig bucks. They keep 20% when you cash out.

Come on down!

[Mike - CSBBBQ]

Thank you Jim & Doc. It is looking like things are going to work out.:-D Florida vs Maryland in January makes it easier LOL. Do not like to vend when competing so will just compete. Hope to get my meat prep completed early (famous last words) and be able to meet some folks (especially brethren) haven't met before and make new friends. Thanks again:-D:-D

[drbbq]

Better get your app in soon because it will fill up. See you there.

[Sledneck]

300 teams? From the website:



>Fundraisers (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=fundraiser)
detail Donate (https://secure.closerware.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=donate) Sponsorships (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=sponsor)

Lakeland Pig Festival-- January 30-31, 2009 Overview About the LPF (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=fundraiser&article=506&tab=About%20the%20LPF) Sponsor the LPF (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=fundraiser&article=506&tab=Sponsor%20the%20LPF) Applications (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=fundraiser&article=506&tab=Applications) Contact Us (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=fundraiser&article=506&tab=Contact%20Us) To see photos of the 2007 Pig Fest visit the JLGL Photo albums (http://www.jlgl.com/lakeland/npo.jsp?pg=albums&album=1)!



The Lakeland Pig Festival is an annual Florida State Barbecue Championship. It is a 501(c)(3) organization, with profits going to charitable organizations. The seeds for the Lakeland Pig Festival were first planted in 1994 when a small group of local businessmen, vacationing in North Carolina, attended a barbecue championship event in the town of Tryon. A festival committee was formed, a date was set, and Lakeland’s first annual Pig Festival was off and running.

What started as a small festival in 1997 has evolved into a festival with over 300 BBQ teams and over 30,000 in attendance, and is growing rapidly each year.
In 2005 JLGL became the lead organizers for this event. The transition has been very smooth and the Pig Fest Board of Directors still includes some of the individuals that originated the event. As a charitable organization, the JLGL has made the event their largest fundraiser, which will bring in the most money for their organization and for the charitable organizations to which they provide donations.
The pig festival has generated over $100,000 in contributions to charitable organizations within Polk County since 1997. Attendance at the 2006 Lakeland Pig Festival was estimated at over 30,000. The 2009 event will be open to the public on January 30th from 5-11pm, and on January 31st from 10am-5pm. There will be a free concert by Atlanta Rhythm Section (http://www.atlantarhythmsection.com/) on Friday night. See you there!
Click here for a map and directions to the festival location (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=2301+lakeland+hills+blvd,+33801&sll=28.071621,-81.952965&sspn=0.008444,0.015879&ie=UTF8&ll=28.077887,-81.962299&spn=0.06755,0.127029&z=13&om=1).

[Smokin' Joe]

300 would be a big jump from 57 in 2008:shock:

[Buster Dog BBQ]

The spots are all on blacktop like Jim said and there is power and water but it's sporadic and sometimes the circuits get pretty loaded up.
Just think Ray, once those electric cars come rolling off the assembly line all these parking lots will have plugins with good power all over the place.:-P

[Rub]

Not 300 teams, but probably 60 or so Pro and as many backyard for around 120 teams. The 30k attendance number is pretty accurate. We sell out every time. See you there - but not till Friday.