Mark October 10 and 11 , 2008 on your calendars for our
5th CIBR-BBQ Competition

We're starting early and looking forward to next October (2008)
in downtown Arthur with

More Prize Money, More Ways to Earn a Stage Call
More Music, and More BBQ!

Competition BBQ and Bluegrass.  Same time, same place. The weekend after the Royal, and again in downtown Arthur, IL. We've already lined up a new sponsor, had good feedback from the 2007 sponsors, so we are already planning an expanded event for 2008.

If you were here to compete in 2007, you know the great time we had... the great teams that were here, plus a lot of new teams and all the people enjoying the 'Q. But for 2008 we're bringing back the Blue Grass in force.

We will keep the same $150 entry structure for KCBS Teams, but raise the total prize money to over at least a $9000 purse. We will try again to push the 50 team mark. We fell back a few last year to 35 teams so we'll push the advertising a bit to try to recover the numbers. We have additional locations available downtown to spread out some, and we add some more electricity last year and had plenty to spare, so we should be good in that area.

Online applications are now available. We'll take credit cards with your applications or mail it in with a check.

Spectators,  Team Groupies and BBQ Wannabe's- If you just like BBQ to eat, like to cook it yourself at home, or have seen competitions on the food channel, you will want to be here in Arthur, on Friday, October 10 and Saturday, October 11, 2008!  We'll will have numerous, extremely great BBQ teams here working, and many of them will be set up to sell you some World Class 'Q. Live Bluegrass bands will be on the State Bank of Arthur Stage on Saturday up until the awards ceremonies at 3pm. We will be bringing back the Chet Kingery Memorial Bluegrass jam and have live bluegrass and great BBQ to eat Friday evening and all day Saturday on to dark. We are inviting some quality fall craft vendors, merchants will have a sidewalk sale going on and we have a special play area for the kids.

And don't forget to come hungry! We'll add more BBQ vendors for 2008 so you won't have the long lines and you won't go home hungry. We will have plenty of top quality competition grade BBQ vendors cooking up slabs of ribs, pulled pork for sandwiches or take home a whole brisket if you wish. Again... come hungry!

For you Not-Quite-Ready-for-Prime-Time BBQ Teams -
Back by popular demand and bigger than last year will be our WMCI Thrill of the Grill Amateur Competition! WMCI is enthusiastic on their plans for the 2008 Backyard Competition. Look for more prizes, and more categories. Chicken and ribs, KCBS style but we will allow gas BBQ grills if that's the way you cook'em. $250 combined Grand Champion and the Bragging Rights, plus category checks thru third place in each category. Check the CIBR-BBQ Thrill-of the Grill page regularly for information and registration details as we make them up!

Details for Friday evening will be fine tuned but we will reinstate the side and dessert competitions and also keep the Peoples Choice contest... but still no cost to enter and cash prizes from all the tickets sold on this evening. Check the details pages a bit later on for more on this. (For the public... you can be a judge yourself in this event. $5 gets you in on Friday night and you can taste-test all you want and vote for your favorite. Then if you don't get enough samples at that, you as a judge, are invited into  to take part in our whole hog roast and VIP party.)

Saturday will again include a Kids Q. Things went well in 07 so we know how to do it. 10 am chicken and hamburger turn-in (no entry fee if sponsored by a registered competing team.)

The KCBS turn-ins beginning at noon, the Thrill of the Grill turn-ins at 2 and 2:30, and live entertainment all day up until and after the awards ceremony at 3:30pm.

If you missed our past events and want to see some of how they went follow this link. Much of the good will remain the same, and we'll try to fix minor the problems we had. We're adding more activities. We'll be looking for more teams, more sponsors, more rib eating customers, and more fun on Friday for the early birds.

Plan on being in Arthur October 10th and 11th, 2008...
               the weekend after the Royal!