HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ WINS the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP at the 28th Annual Fire Ant Festival!

Wow! What a weekend! Rain could not dampen the spirits of the Fire Amt Festival in Ashburn GA this weekend. A late surge in teams got the number of entrants up to 30 after being much more modest just a few days before. In addition to a GBA field of 30 Pro BBQ Teams, the Fire Ant Festival Committee hosted a Kids Hamburger Challenge, Pizza Cook-Off Association/Pizza Cook-off Community and a Brisket Ancillary with 19 Brisket entries! Huge thank you to out GBA Judges for a GREAT turn out to judge some amazing BBQ and Kid’s Burger Challenge.

The Fire Ant Festival is really a month-long series of events that engaged the citizens of Ashburn and Turner County in a variety of ways from February 22 through March 23rd. You can find out more about the 28th Annual Fire Ant Festival here https://fireantfestival.com/ and make plans to attend next year! The Dates are March 28-29, 2025!

Join us in congratulating Posse BBQ for having the most consistent cook of the day and being named Reserve Grand Champion.

PORK LOIN CATEGORY

Congratulations to Real-Licious Q for taking 1st Place in the Loin category, Southern Hogs 2nd Place Loin, and Pig-eee-licious 3rd Place Loin.

PORK CATEGORY

Congratulations to Hold Your Horses BBQ for winning the Pulled Pork category, with Posse BBQ taking 2nd Place Pork, and Let’s Smoke Something 3rd Place Pork with their first ever finals in only their forth competition!

RIB CATEGORY

Congratulations to Southern Hogs for winning the Rib Category & their (2) 600 Scores of the day, Posse BBQ takes 2nd Place Ribs, and Kimbrell-Q taking 3rd Place Ribs!

BRISKET

Congratulations to Posse BBQ for delivering the best Brisket of the day to the Judges! 19 AMAZING Brisket Entries with Posse BBQ scoring a perfect “600” to win!

Kid’s Burger Challenge

Congratulations to Ty Sorrell on winning the Kids Hamburger Challenge. He finished 3rd last year and broke through to be named Champion this year. Stella Boles took 2nd Place Kids Burger with Grace Gilley taking 3rd Place Kid’s Burger. There was some tough burger competition with 17 amazing entries!

GBA CATEGORY RESULTS

POSSE BBQ Wins the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!

Wow what a weekend! The GBA would like to tip its hat to Tori Gravlee and the Donalsonville DDA for hosting the Firehouse BBQ Festival this past weekend in Donalsonville GA. We had 15 Pro Teams who split over $10,000 in prize money! HUGE THANKD YOU to all of the amazing GBQ Judges that made the track down South for some great BBQ. Congratulations to Posse BBQ on winning the Grand Championship with their Ribs. We would like to give Keith Bowen and the Fry Crew a shout out for frying up some of the best Catfish ever, Great Hush Puppies, and French fries. Also huge shout out to Lisa Oliver O’Neal who ¹coordinated the sides for the Fish Fry.

Shark Bite BBQ won the Reserve Grand Championship with an amazing cook taking Top 5 in all three categories with double finals.

PORK LOIN CATEGORY

K&E Little Smokers scored their first ever professional category win with their 1st Place Loin. Pig-eee-licious took 2nd place Loin with Flying Pig Bar-B-Que taking 3rd place Loin.

Pork Category

Congratulations to Shark Bite BBQ on their Pork category win! K&E Little Smokers took 2nd place pork with Magnum P.I.G. taking 3rd place pork.

RIB CATEGORY

Congrats to Posse BBQ on their 1st Place Rib! Big Butts BBQ with 2nd place rib and Shark Bite BBQ on 3rd place ribs.

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.

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 BBQ. Rollin 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

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 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!