Carly Farrell
The Americus Times-Recorder
PLAINS —
Plains is usually known for its peanuts, but July 16 and 17, it will be known for its barbecue.
The Second Annual Plains’ Pig Pickin’ Festival has been set to begin at 8 a.m. July 16 and run through 5 p.m. July 17.
Ellen Harris, event coordinator, and Ruth Sanders, the Plains Better Hometown Committee coordinator, are hoping to have more than 24 cooks come out to compete for bragging rights for the best barbecue in Plains for the year.
Last year, the festival had 20 cooks competing, but now that its in its second year, they believe more cooks will come out.
Cooks sign up through the Georgia Barbecue Association.
“The Georgia Barbecue Association is hoping to get 30 teams this year,” Harris said.
Teams will be allowed to begin cooking Friday afternoon, and will be required to be finished by Saturday afternoon.
“They’ll be cooking all night,” Sanders said.
There’ll be four categories that judges will pick best-in-class for, which include pork loin, ribs, sauce and butts or shoulders.
There’ll be cash prizes, ribbons and trophies given out to the winners by Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president.
The events will take place in the park in front of the train tracks in Plains.
Harris and Sanders also plan on having a street dance from 9 p.m. to midnight Friday. H20 will perform.
According to Harris, H2O “is a local band — they have some members from Preston, and they play a good assortment of music. They’re a good crowd pleaser for all ages, and do a mix of everything from country to a little rock — it’s really an assortment.”
Harris encourages everyone to bring lawn chairs.
Authorities are looking for food, arts and crafts vendors to set up for the festival, as well; if interested, call Sanders at 824-5373.
The SAM Shortline excursion train will also be running Saturday afternoon.
