The competition, being judged by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, features 26 professional and 20 backyard teams looking to be judged the best in Rome.
If outdoor cooking isn’t your thing, Friday also offers the opportunity for free music downtown.
Local band Broad and Third will take the stage at Bridgepoint Plaza on Friday for the inaugural First Friday concert of the season.
The free concert begins at 7 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 10 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Concessions will be available.
Kristi Kent, the public information officer for the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority, said highlights of the first day of the barbecue competition at Ridge Ferry will include the beginning of the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office Dunk-a-Cop fundraiser that begins at 12:30 p.m.
“We’re ready to go, rain or shine,” Kent said.
One of the highlights for many visitors Friday will be the dessert contest starting at 5:30 p.m., where any visitor can submit their dessert to be judged. The fee for the contest is $10, and the winner will take home $100. Kansas City Barbecue Society judges will determine the winner of the contest.
Kent said that any kind of dessert can be brought, from cakes to pies to homemade brownies.
See a schedule of events.
Gates open at 3 p.m. Friday and tickets are $5 per car. Events on that day will include live musical entertainment, arts and crafts, food vendors and a special celebrity judge cooking class where visitors can learn barbecue cooking tips and techniques from the pros.
The cooking class begins at 5 p.m. At 9 p.m. there will be an outdoor movie, “Wild Hogs.” The park closes for the night at 11 p.m.
On Saturday, the gates open at 10 a.m. Tickets are $5 per person. Kids younger than 10 will enter free.
A barbecue tasting and voting begins at 10 a.m. as well as live music throughout the day.
There will be a car show and an antique tractor show as well as kids activities, arts and crafts, a noon kiss-the-pig contest in what organizers believe will be a very popular attraction.
At 3:30 p.m., the runner up from the Battle of the Bands competition will take the stage. Rome residents voted Perfect Peace as runner up to winners Jerry on the Moon, who will take the stage at 5:30 p.m.
ROMAN ROAST LIVE MUSIC
Friday
3 p.m. Georgia Mountain Music
5:15 p.m. – Renee Mixon
7 p.m. – Soylent Red
9 p.m. – Outdoor Movie: “Wild Hogs”
Saturday
10 a.m. – Devidasa
11 a.m. – Pollard Greens Jazz Quartet
12 p.m. – Southern Thread (Stephen Smith)
1 p.m. – John Lee Hookers
2 p.m. – David Bell
3:30 p.m. – Young Guns
5:15 p.m. – Perfect Peace
6:15 p.m. – Jerry on the Moon
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