About Us

Event Details
The 4th Annual Railyard BBQ Competition and Beer Fest will take place Sunday, April 12th at Myrtle Avenue Brewing, in the courtyard. The open BBQ challenge will feature BBQ teams from around the state. The attendance goal of the event is 800 people, with the ability to go larger if there is an overwhelming response. The event is being promoted via print, radio and TV media channels along with social media marketing campaigns. All proceeds benefit the local civic charity The Empowered Kitchen.​​
https://www.theempoweredkitchen.org/

Competition Teams Entry Information
This is a open challenge with 7 total prizes, both proteins (brisket and ribs) will be judged separately. Teams will enter and will automatically be entered into the People’s Choice competition for their division. The contest will be capped at 20 total teams

Entry Fees
Each team will pay the entry fee for their division and agree to produce no less than the minimum amount of food recommended under the “Sample Meat Requirement Section”.

 

Competition Team Entry: $150 – standard entry or $250 (** including food sales)

Non-Competing Food Vendor: $150 (*** see notes below) – message us for approval

** BBQ teams will be permitted to sell “Ready to Eat” food items for an additional $100, only if you already possess a food service license and meet minimum food safety regulations. Teams will be solely responsible for meeting all local and state guidelines for food service and sales, including
collecting any applicable sales taxes. See the “Team Setup” section for more details on tables.

 

*** If a food vendor wishes to participate in the festival, not as a competitor, but only to provide ready to eat food samples to event attendees at no charge, we have a limited number of spaces that can be made available. The food vendor must meet all local and state food safety guidelines for their products and must message us for approval to be a “Non-Competing Food Vendor”.

Teams must submit the accompanying entry form, along with their entry fee, to be considered for a spot at the event. Entries will be considered by the event organizers and awarded based on timing of submission and other criteria. If all slots fill or a team is not awarded a spot for any reason, their entry fee will be returned along with an explanation.

PAYMENTS: Please see the entry form for payment options that include Online pay via Donate button on The Empowered Kitchen website (PayPal) and options to print and mail your entry form.

 

Meat Requirements for Judging and People’s Choice

1st , 2nd, and 3rd places in each protein (brisket and ribs) is decided by our panel of guest and dignitary judges. People’s Choice is solely based on the samples offered to event attendees. Open teams can compete on protein #1 (brisket), protein #2 (ribs), or both. The Grand Champion will be decided by the combined total of judging points for Protein 1 and 2. Samples to the public for Public’s Choice voting can be your entry items or your choice of Pork, Turkey, Beef or Sausage.

Refer to the following “judging” section for more details on presentation and scoring. People’s choice will be decided by the vote of the attendees who will place a voting “token” in the bucket for a team of their choice.

Prizes:

​

BBQ Open

Main (Brisket)
1st Place - $550 - trophy
2nd Place - $350
3rd Place - $150

​

Secondary (Ribs)

1st Place - $550 - trophy
2nd Place - $350
3rd Place - $150

​

People’s Choice - $350  + Trophy

Grand Champion - $750 + Trophy​

Sample Meat Requirements for Competition Teams
Sample Meat Requirements for judging and people’s choice voting: This is a minimum recommended amount of meat used for the event, but the more BBQ samples you provide to the attendees = more votes for your team.

Teams that are competing in brisket, will cook at least one whole packer brisket, cooked in one piece (not separated), in order to provide at least 7 servings for the judging box turn in. For People’s Choice - Each team will cook no less than 60 lbs

pre-cook weight of meat that will be provided as samples to event attendees for the “People’s Choice” voting. Brisket can be utilized for People’s Choice samples, but teams are still required to cook no less than 60 lbs of pre-cook weight regardless of which protein they prepare. Meat samples for people’s choice must be ready no later than 11am regardless of judging turn-in times for protein #1.

Teams should provide meat samples to attendees in 1 or 2 oz sample cups (you must provide your own sample cups). Samples should be kept in small portions.

 

All meats for the competition, including people’s choice, will be provided by the teams. Teams are permitted to start the cooking process before arriving at the event on Sunday, April 6th if they so desire. Non-electric holding boxes and Cambros are allowed; cooked meats must be held above 140 degrees F. There will be a general team area inspection to make sure teams are complying with the rules and preparing the necessary amount of food.

Non-Competing food vendors should provide samples of their products in individual small portions and should prepare enough product appropriate for the crowd size of the event. This will be confirmed and clarified on the entry form.

## Competition Teams and Food Vendors will be notified in writing (via email or social media messenger) by Monday, March 31st if the amount of samples should be adjusted for any reason, but the minimum amount of sample meats required to participate will not increase.

## SALES of merchandise is permitted by all teams with no stipulations, other than you are solely responsible for any applicable local, state and federal regulations including but not limited to collecting applicable sales tax. See the “Team Setup” section regarding tables.

Allowed Cooking Devices and Smokers
Smokers / grills should use the following fuel sources only: wood, charcoal or pellet. Electric smokers or grilling devices are not permitted, with the exception of devices used only for ignition purposes or that run a pellet auger (such as those built-in to pellet smokers); electrical operated fan air flow control systems are also allowed. Petroleum based accelerents such as lighter fluid are not allowed. “Tumbleweeds” and wax-based fire-starters are allowed; propane-based weed burner or torch style devices are allowed for starting the fire only.

Judging and Scoring
Teams will be judged on protein #1 (brisket) and protein #2 (ribs) by a panel of no less than 6 judges comprised of local dignitaries and personalities, including other local restaurant owners and pit masters. This is a non-sanctioned event.
- Judging will be performed double-blind. Teams will be given a turn-in box with a team number on the box. Once boxes are turned in, the box will be assigned a new number before proceeding to the judge’s area.
- Boxes should include meat only, no garnish / decoration, no foil or paper and be free of markings
- Each turn-in box should include no less than 8 separate identifiable servings from the flat of the brisket for judges’ consumption. Servings from the point / burnt ends can be included as well, but are not required. Rib entries should include eight separate, identifiable servings.

​

- Entries will be judged using the following criteria:

• Each entry will be judged on presentation (15%), taste (50%) and tenderness (35%) weighted according to the percentages in parentheses.

• Scores will be awarded between 6.0 and 10, in .5 increments, for each metric

• Entries can be disqualified if: teams are seen handling ready to eat food with bare hands; an entry is not turned in during the turn-in window; disallowed material is included in the turn-in box.

• Teams can be disqualified from People’s Choice competition for improper food handling, or situations such as undercooked poultry – Be Smart please.

• Scores will be tabulated in this manner: (total presentation score x 1.15) + (total taste score x 1.5) + (total tenderness score x 1.35) = overall score.
   

Entry Turn-In Time Windows

Open:
Ribs: 12:30 pm -12:45 pm turn in time
Brisket: 1:30 pm – 1:45 pm turn in time
People’s Choice: 3:30 pm – All buckets collected and tabulated

Award Presentations:

4:30 pm
Entries will not be accepted after the close of the turn-in window time; no people’s choice tokens collected after the bucket collection time will be considered.

Team Setup
Teams will be assigned a 12’ x 15’ site for setup. All of the team’s equipment and setup must be contained within the 12 x 15 setup area and not infringe upon another team’s area; the only exception is if there is a non-traffic area (out of foot traffic) that can be utilized without infringing on
another team’s setup area, event organizers may permit use of the extra area.

Event personnel have the final word on allowing or disallowing any setup outside of the 12 x 15 area. Smokers and cooking devices should be kept clear of any nearby combustible sources and allow for safe operation.

Each team must provide a 10’ x 10’ popup tent and at least one 8’ table to use for people’s choice sampling. If a team is going to sell ‘ready to eat’ food items or merchandise, it is recommended to have a second table at least 6’ long to accommodate separate lines for sampling and another for
sales.

Food trailers and food trucks are not allowed inside the event area. Street parking close to the event area will be available after the close of business for the brewery on Saturday (10pm) but setup will begin staging as early as 7pm Saturday April 5th.

Setup Times
Team setup can begin Saturday, April 11th starting at 8pm. The brewery does not close until 10pm Saturday April 11th, but we will begin blocking normal traffic into the parking lot / courtyard (aka setup area) at 8 pm, and we will direct normal traffic to utilize street parking. It may take some time before all cars have left the event setup area - we are officially listing the starting setup time as 8pm.

Teams can arrive as early as 7pm and stage nearby and will be permitted into the setup area as space opens up. Most team setup will begin after 8pm. We cannot force brewery customers to leave, but we will do everything in our power to expedite the clearing of the parking area. Teams will
have limited access to come and go on foot from 11pm – 6am, as the gates to the courtyard will close and be locked to vehicle traffic. Event staff (or overnight security) will be on hand throughout the night in case of an unforeseen need.

Setup will resume Sunday, April 12th at 6am and be open until 9am. Vehicles will be allowed through the courtyard area for dropping smokers and supplies only, then must immediately leave the courtyard area. Teams are asked to keep their time in the courtyard with a vehicle to 10 minutes.

Vehicles will not be permitted in the courtyard after 9 am.

 

Vehicles will not be allowed back into the courtyard area for load-out until after 5pm Sunday, April 12th, and once event crowds can safely be removed from the courtyard area. Event organizers may limit the number of vehicles in the courtyard at one time.

Additional Rules and Details
- Teams: Please text us on arrival to let us know you are ready for setup. The phone number you can text: (904) 655-6603 (Chriss). This can also serve as your contact phone number for questions, but please try to use text instead of calling.

- Team captains meeting will occur at 9:30am Sunday, April 12th 2026.

- A limited amount of 110V electrical outlets are available for Teams that want to use a pellet smoker for the event; only the pellet smokers will be allowed to connect and the source cannot be used for other purposes. Otherwise, you may bring a gas-powered generator to use overnight
that must be turned off by 10:45am Sunday, April 12th and not used during event hours not (trucks and trailers can keep and use generators on their vehicles at street parking if desired).

- A water hose may be available for rinsing, but no hot water or potable water will be available outside of purchased bottled water. Please plan accordingly.

- Event organizers will provide an amplified music system and microphone for presentations and for background music during the event. Teams will not be allowed to play amplified music or sound that is audible outside of their designated 12 x 15 area.

- Teams will designate a “team captain” who will attend the cooks meeting at the designated time, and who will represent the entire team regarding event matters.

- Team captains are responsible for the conduct of their team and guests.

- Teams are not allowed to bring pets to the event.

- No tobacco use inside the event grounds (smoking or oral based tobacco products)

- Waiver of Liability: In consideration of your team captain’s acceptance of these rules by signing and submitting the accompanying entry form and fee, all team participants intend to be legally bound, do hereby waive and release any and all rights and claims for damages or injury, against
Railyard BBQ Challenge, The Empowered Kitchen, Myrtle Avenue Brewing, event sponsors and their agents, successors and assigns, suffered at this event. Teams further grant permission to the Railyard BBQ Challenge and all its agents and representatives authorized
by them to use photographs, videotapes or any other record of this event for any legitimate purpose.