Morgan City is set to sizzle; BBQ Bash is this weekend

The Bash is back.
The Bayou BBQ Bash, a sanctioned barbecue chef competition, will be Friday and Saturday under the bridge in Morgan City.
The kickoff for the Barbecue Competitors Alliance-sanctioned event, run by the St. Mary Detachment of the Marine Corps League, will be Thursday at the Holiday Inn Express, 704 Martin Luther King Blvd., Morgan City.
The Thursday kick off, 5:30-8 p.m., once again will include the unveiling of the new Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival poster.
The BBQ Bash still needs local competitors. You can download entry forms at bcabbq.org and call 985-384-3446 for more information.
The Bayou BBQ Bash is a week or so later this year than in the past. It’s a barbecue chess move.
Organizer Bill Goessl said the move to the last weekend in July positions the Morgan City event just before the seedings for a pair of big-time barbecue competitions, the American Royal and the Jack Daniels Invitational, the first week in August.
Goessl is hoping Morgan City will pick up some competitors who want to collect some points before the draw before those other events.
Thirty-four competitors, including those from Longview, Texas, and Alabama, are expected here. The total could go as high as 42, Goessl said.
So the timing has changed, but not the categories for the Bayou event — chicken, ribs and brisket.
The judging will be handled by 75 volunteers rounded up by John Cart State Farm Insurance in Bayou Vista. They’ll get a quick introduction to barbecue judging from alliance judges Brian Lipps and Danny and Rhonda Titus on Saturday morning at Trinity Episcopal Church.
Also on the schedule:
—The Cannata’s Kids Q competition. Youngsters 9-11 will go to work on a 1-inch pork chop, and those 12-15 will cook leg quarters. The judging will be at 10 a.m. Saturday.
—A Friday dessert competition honoring the late Mata Tellman, the “cheesecake queen.” She and husband Don are credited with founding the Bayou BBQ Bash.
You can enter your dessert creation for $10 or one toy for the Marine Corps League’s Toys for Tots program. Bash-goers can also sample a variety of the desserts for $5 each, which will also benefit toys for tots.
—Live music is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday, when Cliff Hillebran will perform, and 1-4 p.m. Saturday, when South 70 will be on stage. DJ JJ Starbuck is on the schedule for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.
—Food and drink vendors include DJ’s BBQ, East Gate Barbecue and Le Choix des Cajuns will be on site. The Krewe of Adonis will sell beer, and Goessl is on the lookout for ice cream and Slushee vendors.
About two dozen arts and crafts vendors will be at the Bash on Friday and Saturday, and this year has a new feature: a car show Saturday.