What was most enticing about Saturday’s “Bands, Brews & BBQ Throwdown” event hosted at George Costa Baseball Fields by the Ceres Chamber of Commerce? The music played by country and rock bands? The aroma of sizzling meat wafting through the air from barbecue pits? The taste of samples of barbecued ribs, chicken and pork? Maybe the cold brews served by local craft breweries? It depends on which of the approximately 350 who attended are asked.

Originally set for August 19, the barbecue festival held Saturday at the George Costa Baseball Complex from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. offerws the public a chance to buy samples of the meats barbecues for the judging, check out the commercial vendors, sample local beers and listen to local bands.

The event drew a field of five barbecue teams to support a $1,900 purse for first- through-third place winners in tri-tip and beef ribs categories. Taking first place and the $300 prize was the Waterford team of Smokin’ T’s. The Turlock team of B&E BBQ took second place and $200 and in third place was Smokin’ Stacks BBQ of Sacramento which claimed a $100 prize.

Earning grand champion status was Smokin’ T’s team and the reserve grand champion fell to KO BBQ of Modesto.

Barbecue samples from the teams were judged by California BBQ Association judges.

The barbecuing teams, called pitmasters, were asked to prepare racks of ribs each for the public to taste – after buying a $15 ticket for five samples – and vote for the People’s Choice. The pitmaster with the most tokens at the end of the competition won as the public’s favorite. That honor went to KO BBQ, which netted $100 and a trophy.

A public rib eating contest was also held with the winner declared by Mayor Javier Lopez who counted the bones finished by contestants. The winner cleaned off 12 ribs in less than four minutes. One of the seven competitors included Chamber vice president Irene Ortiz.

“I loved the rib eating contest,” said Chamber President Brandy Meyer who said it was fun watching the competitors eat all the meat off the bone. “There was gentleman who walked away because he was going to be sick (if he continued). It was just good old fashioned community fun. It was something out of the ordinary and it was fun to watch. Everybody was rooting on their favorite rib eater.”

The event featured three local bands – Remedy playing in the morning, Greg Scudder & the Honky Tonk Heroes midday and Whiskey Finger to close out the event.

A kids’ fun zone, a variety of food and commercial vendors, and a craft and domestic beer garden featuring local craft breweries Blaker Brewing and 5 Eye Brewing and Bronco Winery wine products. Activities were also offered for the kids, such as games, a jumper, slide, mechanical bull riding, face painting and balloon twisters.

“After a six-year hiatus, the weather was ideal, the food was delicious and it just felt great bringing this event back to our community,” said Renee Ledbetter, a member of the Ceres Chamber of Commerce board who first brought the event to Ceres. “We appreciate our sponsors and our attendees greatly for supporting the Ceres Chamber of Commerce to do so.”

Attendance was a bit disappointing to organizers compared to the 2017 turnout, with Ledbetter estimating about 300 to 350 attending the event.

The numbers of competitors dropped due to the fact that the date was postponed, said Ledbetter, and scheduling conflicts arose for those signed up previously.

“All in all it turned out really well for our first one coming back,” she said. “We just have to rebuild it. We haven’t done it for six years so a lot of people don’t remember it or they didn’t know what it was about. Then we were competing with a lot of Octoberfest stuff so that was another thing that drew a lot of people out.”

The Ceres event also conflicted with the Riverbank Wine & Cheese Festival. 

“I think it was well attended,” said Councilman Daniel Martinez. “The music was great. There was a lot of support from the community people.”

Martinez was a guest judge in the contest after undergoing a mini master class on judging.

Community groups also lent their support. The Ceres Cub Scouts Pack 132 sold bottles of water and about 20 to 25 vendors had booths. Ceres Lions Club members who were at the event barbecuing for a Hughson memorial event and a fundraiser benefiting the athletic boosters for both Ceres High and Central Valley High School at Diamond Bar Arena later that evening.

The Chamber introduced the barbecue festival concept in 2014 as the “Smoke on the River” event at the Tuolumne River Lodge. The event later took place at River Oaks Golf Course & Event Center and later at Whitmore Park. Ledbetter said the George Costa Fields venue was perfect and Ceres Youth Baseball representatives were very helpful.

The event was originally set for August 19 but had to be rescheduled citing a low barbecue team count and ticket sales. Rather than cancel, the committee decided to push the event date out further to allow more time for teams to sign up and sell advanced tickets.

Sponsors include the California BBQ Association, the city of Ceres, Direct Appliance, Cost Less Foods, Bronco Wine, Blaker Brewing, Five Eye Brewing, Embroidery Plus, Meyer CPR, Ceres Youth Baseball Association and Ledbetter & Associates, Inc.