2024 Tifton Rhythm & Ribs BBQ – CISNEROS FATHER & SON “SWEEP” in Tifton

Rain and mud didn’t deter 29 teams from fighting it out at the first Double Points event this year – the Tifton Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival held in Tifton, GA on March 01. Tifton puts on one of the best festivals in Georgia, and hosts both a professional and backyard event. For those who have never attended, keep an eye on the GBA events page and be sure not to miss this one next year! 319Q walked last as our GBA Grand Champion, winning on their Finals Loin Entry. Rollin Pit BBQ was our Reserve Grand Champion, finishing 10th in Loin and 3rd in both Pork and Ribs, his first ever Double Finals & RGC.

Rollin Pit BBQ – RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Kids Burger Challenge – Camden Cisneros 1st Place, Luke Thompson 2nd Place, Sawyer Bennett 3rd Place

The GBA held their first ever Kid’s Cookoff on Friday night. 6 teams turned in hamburgers they prepared and plated themselves. The judges had a tough job, as every entry was fantastic. When all the scoring had been tabulated only one point separated the Tope 3 entries. Camden Cisneros was crowned with the Best Burger, followed by Luke Thompson in 2nd Place and Sawyer Bennett in 3rd Place. We’re very proud of these future pitmasters, and wish all of them luck in their next challenge!

In the GBA sanctioned Cookoff, the judges were presented with 29 entries in each category, from some of the best cooks Georgia has to offer. Only the top 3 entries in each category make it to finals, and here’s how the judges ranked them:

PORK LOIN CATEGORY

319Q Won Loin, followed by Magnum P.I.G. 2nd Place, and B-Rads BBQ 3rd Place.

PORK CATEGORY

Bite My Butt BBQ Won Pork, with Shark Bite BBQ  2nd Place, and Rollin Pit coming in 3rd Place.

RIB CATEGORY

Posse BBQ Won Ribs, Heavy Metal Hogz 2nd Place, and Rollin Pit in at 3rd Place.

Tifton Rhythm & Ribs Results

Reserve Grand Results

As expected, there were some shakeups in TOTY points after our first Double Points event: 319Q shot up to the top of the Overall Points category with 90 points. Flyin Pig dropped one spot to second, and is tied with Rollin Pit at 64 points. Bite My Butt settled in at 4th, with B-Rads jumping into 5th.

319Q remains in the top Loin spot with 30 points, and Magnum P.I.G. moved into 2nd, 2 points ahead of B-Rads BBQ.

Shark Bite BBQ is now our top Pork team just ahead of Bite My Butt BBQRollin Pit BBQ is in 3rd.

Posse BBQ is the top Rib team, followed by Heavy Metal Hogz and Rollin Pit.

The GBA travels next to Donalsonville, GA on March 16 for the Firehouse BBQ Festival. This is a great event with music, vendors – and don’t forget the fish fry on Friday night! After that we’ll hit one of the best events in Georgia – The FireAnt Festival in Ashburn, GA on March 23. Streets full of vendors, a carnival, music, and one of the best fireworks shows you’ll see! Next up is Smoking on Blackshear held on the shores of beautiful Lake Blackshear. This event is April 20, and is held at the Georgia War Veterans campground. Music, vendors, and an absolutely beautiful venue – don’t miss this one!

THE GBA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR TOTY SPONSORS FOR 2024:

Dexter Meats – Locally owned and customer service driven, Dexter Meat Company is ready to provide fresh quality meats. https://www.facebook.com/dextermeatco/

Bubba Grills – You can’t go to a bbq event without seeing a bunch of Bubba Grills. Their direct-fired, reverse flow cookers produce consistent results that often have their pitmasters walking the stage. See https://www.bubbagrills.net for more information.

Fireant Festival BBQ Bash – Look no further than Ashburn, GA on March 22 – 23, 2024 for one of the best festivals Georgia has to offer. Hundreds of Vendors, a carnival, Kids Burger Challenge, a sanctioned GBA event, and the best fireworks display this side of Atlanta! https://www.fireantfestival.com

Heath Riles BBQ – If you’re looking to up your bbq flavor game head over to https://www.HeathRilesBBQ.com. Heath has spent years perfecting his rubs, sauces, and injections, and the results speak for themselves.

Sunflower Apparel & Promotions – If you’re in the market for new team shirts, hats, or logo design, check out http://www.sunflowerapparel.com

2024 Dilly Dally in Dooly – Vienna, GA

FLYIN PIG BBQ – GRAND CHAMPION

The Georgia BBQ Association headed over to Vienna, GA for the 2024 Dilly Dally in Dooly. Starting off the 2024 GBA season with 43 amazing teams! We had beautiful weather and at a historic venue, with Great Organizers, GBA Teams, GBA Judges, and GBA Reps. Rhonda Lamb and the Dilly Dally Crew did a fabulous job! The GBA Teams made life tough for the judges there, and when all the judging was done, Flyin Pig BBQ won the Grand Championship with his 1st Place in Ribs.

EZQ – Reserve Grand Champion

EZQ wins the Reserve Grand Champion being the most consistent team behind Flyin Pig BBQ.

PORK LOIN CATEGORY

319Q won the Loin Category, Rum Runners in their first GBA event took 2nd Place Loin also having a perfect 600 in the preliminary round, and Bite My Butt took 3rd Place Loin.

PORK CATEGORY

Reed Nut Smokers won the Pork category in their very first GBA event, Big Daddy’s Meat House took 2nd Place Pork, and Rum Runners took 3rd Place Pork.

RIB CATEGORY

Flyin Pig BBQ won the Rib Category, Rescue Smokers took 2nd Place, and Scott’s Smoke Shack BBQ took 3rd Place Ribs with a Perfect

CATEGORY FINALS

DILLY DALLY in DOOLY RESULTS

RESERVE GRAND RESULTS

UPCOMING CONTESTS

The 2024 GBA Season is already on fire with the first competition in the books. Our next stop March 1-2, 2024 is the Tifton Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival with $11,700 in prize money and is the first “Double Points Contest” of the season! If you haven’t signed up, you need to contact Angela Elder immediately at (229) 848-9899 mobile or (229) 386-0216 office.

The GBA will be hosting the first ever GBA Kids Cook-Off Challenge at Rhythm and Ribs on Friday March 1, 2024. Registration is FREE and open to any kid regardless of GBA Membership.

March 15-16, 2024 is the Firehouse BBQ Festival in Donalsonville, GA with $10,000 in prize money! If you plan on competing in the contest, please go ahead and give the organizer Tori Gravlee a quick call so she can get an accurate team estimation. Cell: (229) 416-5929 Office: (229) 524-2118

March 22-23, 2024 is the Fire Ant Festival BBQ Bash in Ashburn, GA with $12,000 in prize money! Get your applications in as soon as possible, it’s sure to be a great weekend!

2023 GBA BANQUET

Congratulations to all who walked last night at the Georgia Barbecue Association 2023 Team of the Year Banquet. It was a wonderful evening celebrating accomplishments and fellowship. Thank you all for making the GBA the organization that it is today! Huge thank you to Linda Hawkins and the Lake Blackshear Resort for the amazing food and venue. The banquet was the largest ever with around 168 in attendance, great social hour, amazing dinner, 2024 Georgia BBQ Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, 2023 GBA Team of the Year Awards, and Dancing the Night Away with Tres Hombres!

POSSEE BBQ – 2023 GBA TEAM of the YEAR

Loin Team of the Year

1st Place Loin Team of the Year – POSSEE BBQ

Pork Team of the Year

1st Place Pork Team of the Year – Off the Chain BBQ

Rib Team of the Year

1st Place Rib Team of the Year – RESCUE SMOKERS

Congrats to Daniel Alix on his 2023 Judge of the Year Recognition!

Congratulations to the 2023 Judge of the Year Nominees! The GBA would not be where it is without the dedication of each and every judge, we greatly appreciate the role you play at each and every event!

2023 Judge of the Year Nominees – Ewa Belcastro, Chantell Gibbons, Ritamarie Arzillo, Lois Sebastian, Warren Abrams, Mark Coley, Robert Fisher, Lonnie Lewis

2024 Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductees

Danny Meadows, GBA Founders(Alen/Loraine Khoury), Robby Royal, Myron Mixon, Phelp’s Family(National BBQ News) and Sheriff John W. Callaway (Deceased), joined by Georgia BBQ HOF Executive Director Greg Sebastian

2023 GBA JUDGE of the YEAR NOMINEES

The GBA Board of Directors is excited to announce the nominees for the 2023 Georgia BBQ Association Judge of the Year. It takes every GBA Member to have an amazing organization in which to cook, judges, teams, contest reps, and organizers! Unbeknownst to our judges this past season, the GBA Board began having lead reps of each contest nominate one judge from each contest for the GBA Judge of the Year. They have all demonstrated the best of the Georgia Barbecue Association and all nominees will be recognized and celebrated at the 2023 GBA Banquet with one of them will being Honored as the 2023 Judge of the Year. This award will be part of our GBA Banquet from this year forward. Please join us in congratulating the 2023 GBA Judge of the Year Nominees listed below in alphabetical order:

Warren Abrams, Daniel Alix, Ritamarie Arzillo, Ewa Belcastro, Mark Coley, Robert Fisher, Chantel Gibbons, Lonnie Lewis, and Lois Sebastian

THANK YOU to every judges that took time out of their weekends this past season to come out and judge BBQ, you are GREATLY APPRECIATED!

2023 GBA BANQUET – February 10, 2024

The 2023 GBA Baquet is scheduled for February 10, 2024 and will be held at the Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club. The cost is $25.00 per person – please invite your family and friends. We will have dinner and our annual GBA awards. There will be a cash bar. We just wanted to make everyone aware of the date so all GBA members can go ahead and make plans to attend. We’re cooking up some fun events to take place around this year’s banquet, including the 2023 GBA TOTY Awards, our GBA Judge of the Year Award, it will also feature the induction of the first class of honorees into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame. We will have a live band again, great food, all will make for an amazing weekend!

Linda Hawkins has set Special Rates for the GBA Banquet Weekend: Lake Blackshear Camp Sites $45 per night and Cabins $189 per night. Please call 229-276-1004 to make your reservations, mention that you are with the GBA Banquet. Several Glamping Yurts are also available, but must be booked through https://www.timberlineglamping.com/