Question for you all
 

Where is the best place to find out about competitions? I have no desire to compete but think it would be great to go. Are there good websites, any rules for visitors?
Thanks,
L-M

visit New Holland Summerfest in late August... one of the biggest contests in the Northeast.

http://www.nhsummerfest.org/forms.html

Here's a link to the KCBS calendar

http://www.kcbs.us/search.jsp

and the Mid Atlantic BBQ Association that has a lot of events somewhat close to PA or in PA.. most if not all are KCBS events so you will see duplication

http://www.mabbqa.com/news.html


Only rules for visitors, talk to the teams a bit, are to have a good time but try not to disturb the teams between 10AM and 1:30 as turn in times approach.

Vinny - thanks for the info!

Here's another view
http://www.kcbs.us/user_contest_calendar.jsp

LMAJ going the nite before turn ins is the best time to visit IMHO.
The morning of turn ins isnt the best time to come and visit me.
Im not trying to avoid folks who want to learn the art of Q.
Im usually trying to get my greens washed, sorted ect.
Im trying to get my game presence up and running and really dont want anybody other than my team talking to me.
Not trying to be mean here at all. Just the facts on how I/we think. Everybody does things a little bit different I guess.

It is a lot of fun to see all the teams - especially Brethren teams, their cooking equipment and their set-ups, but KCBS competitions are not really a spectator sport.

The trick is to figure out when the teams are not too busy to be friendly. Turn in day, is not a good time, for example.

Others in here can give you better advice than I can as to what times might be best to not be in the way.

This is not to discourage you. It is a real blast to see a competition in high gear. The camaraderie among the teams is really a fun thing to witness.

My sponsor came to pick up the meat from turn-in leftovers right before awards Saturday and decided to go in and watch the awards with us. We hadn't made it through one category when she leaned over and commented about just this. And she had never seen a BBQ contest before. Took her all of 15 minutes to have it make an impression on her. :wink:

I agree. The nite before turn ins is the best time for visiting.

This was my first comp last weekend and I actually had a guy ask if we wanted to do a radio interview as I am standing there with lettuce in my hands building the turn in box. I politely told him that I was working on getting my boxes ready for the judges and only had about 7 minutes till turn in time. He said "it will only take about 5 minutes......." :roll:

I finally had to just say I'm sorry I just can't, I'm too busy.

Thanks for the feedback - don't want to kill the mojo at a critical point, you work too hard for that. Now I can be a well behaved visitor!

LMAJ, I agree with what was said,, 10:30 till 1:30, very busy time for teams on turn in day. But anytime before or after that, not usually a problem. If ya show up at new holland feel free to stop by we'll be competing.

I think it kinda depends on the team. we are ok with people standing nearby, watching what we do, as long as they aren't right up our collective butts. we actually LIKE to describe what we are doing to inquiring minds. POLITE, inquiring minds.

that's just us... others can have their say...