California Barbeque Association Annual Q-FEST

February 11 - 13, 2011

San Dimas, California

The California Barbecue Association (CBBQA) held their annual Q-Fest at Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, CA on February 11-13, 2011.   The annual event highlights the Team of the Year (TOY) plus presents awards in all categories from points that BBQ teams earn throughout the calendar year.  Dan Cannon from “BBQ by Dan” out of Acton set up the event along with the help of Todd Eves from “Out of this World BBQ” from Victorville.  It’s a beautiful setting in the middle of the Los Angeles area, and the weather was perfect!

The Q-Fest brings CBBQA members together in one spot for a relaxing weekend and a chance to visit and enjoy BBQ without having to worry about turn-in times during a competition.  No gathering of BBQ enthusiasts would be complete without something to BBQ and this weekend was no exception.  Brazen BBQ and Left Coast Q both California BBQ teams prepared a whole hog for the low and slow cook.  Friday evening everyone gathered for a potluck and a beautiful camp fire that would burn until Sunday morning. 

Saturday morning started off right with a wonderful breakfast which included Dan Cannon’s famous biscuits and gravy along with potluck dishes from all of the campers.   The morning was spent visiting, playing horseshoes, telling tall tales, and of course keeping an eye on the “whole hog”.  The feast would be at 2:00 pm and if you left hungry it was your own fault. 

The CBBQA Team of the Year program is an annual point’s race where CBBQA member teams compete in sanctioned professional-level barbecue competitions. The winners of the annual contest are the Team(s) with the most points at the end of each year in the overall and individual categories.

Overall, All Hogs go to Heaven finished 4th out of 79 teams in the TOY results.  In individual categories we received 3rd in chicken out of 96 teams, 4th in ribs out of 90 teams, and 1st in pull pork out of 89 teams (two years in a row All Hogs was 1st in pull pork in California Team of the Year contest).