The Ceres Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted Wednesday to postpone the Bands, Brews & BBQ Throwdown event originally set for August 19 and reschedule it for Saturday, Oct. 14.
The Chamber’s Events Committee recommended to the Board to postpone the event 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.
“As much as we would have liked to continue with this event this month, we just don’t have the team count or the ticket sales to really make this a stand-out event,” said event chair Renee Ledbetter.
Those who have signed up have agreed to participate in October. After calling a few other teams which couldn’t make the Aug. 19 date, Ledbetter recruited three more teams for October.
The board also sees an advantage with postponement with likely cooler weather, she said.
The event will be held at the George Costa Baseball Complex and run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A field of 20 barbecue teams would support a $3,000 purse for first- through-third place winners in two meat categories – tri-tip and ribs; a Grand Champion and a Reserve Grand Champion; the People’s Choice Public Rib Tasting Competition; and a public rib eating contest. The barbecue pitmasters are asked to prepare 20 racks each for the People’s Choice ribs for public consumption. The pitmaster with the most tokens at the end of the competition wins as the public’s favorite. Tickets for this competition are $15 for five tastings and one token.
Teams will be judged on their two competition meats by California BBQ Association judges.
“When we don’t have enough competitors, we can’t prepare enough ribs for the People’s Choice,” said Ledbetter. “That’s a part of this event that the public has come to love so we want to make sure we have enough for a few thousand tastings.”
Aside from a low team count, ticket sales have been sluggish. The Chamber board agreed to offer $5 tickets for the first 500 purchased. A promo code of “5for500” is automatically applied at checkout of online tickets. After the promo ends, tickets will be $10 for adults and remain $5 for kids 5-12. Tickets at the gate the day of the event will be increased. Those who have already purchased tickets will receive the discount or a full refund if they can’t attend the event on its new date.
The event also features local bands throughout the day, 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.
“Our volunteer board works hard and takes pride in the events we host, so we don’t want to let the Ceres community down. We hope people will support this event and the Chamber of Commerce, because events like this help keep the Chamber operational.”
For more information about the event visit ceresbandsbrewsbbq.com or contact the Chamber at 209-537-2601 or via email at CeresChamberBoard@gmail.com.
