The Shadow
The eighth annual Covington Cork & Pork Festival is scheduled this weekend in the Mid-City Mall area of downtown Covington.
“Not to jinx ourselves, but the weather looks great and there are no forecasts for a derecho, tropical storm or flooding,” stated contest organizer David “B.B.” Bryant.
This year’s KCBS competition BBQ contest is bolstered by a “Smokin with Smithfield” grant and will feature a Cork & Pork high of 33 teams vying for $11,000 in prize money as well as an invitation to the “KCBS American Royal” in Kansas City, an entry into the drawing for the Jack Daniel’s World BBQ Championship and a spot in the Virginia Grand’s State Championship held each spring during the “BBQ Gives Back” Competition weekend.
The field this year also includes three local teams competing in the contest as well. Currently there are four Backyard BBQ Bash cooks in the local competition which features area residents cooking pork butts, ribs and a mystery category of meat this year.
There will again be a People’s Choice event Saturday from 2-3 p.m. on the Mid-City Mall lot and will feature a pulled pork competition for KCBS and Backyard cooks that will be voted on by our local residents and event guests.
The event will include entertainment on Friday evening with short opening ceremonies starting at 4:30 p.m. There will be food, snacks, Shriner doughnuts, and drinks available starting at noon on Friday as well as vendors and informational booths. There will be local youth dancing on Friday evening, a cooking demonstration, eating contests and live music as well through 10 p.m.
On Saturday, there will be clogging, live music, great food, snacks, frozen treats and drinks. At 4 p.m., the awards ceremony will take place followed by live music until 9 p.m. on Saturday evening.
As always, there will be free bounce houses, slides and trackless train rides for the children on Friday evening and throughout the day on Saturday. There will be an entertainment/activity clown present as well on Saturday.
For the first time in the history of Cork & Pork, event T-shirts will be sold to the public at what Bryant terms “a reasonable price.”
Olde Town Covington President Cindy Bryant stated, “The support of our community, local business and local corporations has always been tremendous and this year is no different. We hope everyone can come out at some point Friday or Saturday and enjoy the entertainment and food offerings this weekend”.
For more information, please contact organizers on Facebook (Covington Cork & Pork Festival), covcorkandpork@gmail.com, or additional information, food information and event times can be found at covingtoncorkandpork.com.
The 2019 Covington Cork & Pork entries include:
2 Rhodies BBQ, Berryville; 270 Smokers, Lexington; 3 n 1 Q, Beaverton; Bam Bam’s BBQ, Stephens City; Big Dog BBQ VA, Virginia Beach; Brown Liquor BBQ,Springfield; Bud Wiser’s BBQ, Fayetteville, N.C.; Checkered Flag 500, Fawn Grove, Pa.; Dirty Butt’s BBQ, Covington; Firehouse Bar B Que, Henrico; Fred Vegas Smokers, Fredericksburg.
Also, Grate Smoke, Chesapeake; Grateful ’Que, King George; Hickory Bent & Rail Bound, Covington; JD’s Smokin’ Misfits, Fredericksburg; Lakeview BBQ, Bowie, Md.; Lem’s Meat Varnish, South Charleston, W.Va.; No Rush Q, Midlothian; Old Colony Smokehouse,Edenton, N.C.; Pig Pen BBQ, Yardville, N.J.; Q Mad, Pittsfield, Mass.; Q Pine Nation, Apex, N.C.; Ray-Ray’s Grille, Covington; Rollin’ Smoke, Farmville; Rub N Butts VA, Roanoke; Smoke Monster BBQ, Asheboro, N.C.; Smoke-Aholics, Norfolk; Smokehouse Mafia, Taylorsville, N.C.; Smokey Dog BBQ, Foster; Smokin’ Sweetmeats, Buford; Stack-ed BBQ,Strasburg; Still Workin’ On It, Newport; Two Drummers, Toano.
