LUBBOCK, Texas — The cook off may have started Thursday morning, but members of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce started rolling their grills, smokers and other supplies to the South Plains Fair Grounds early Wednesday morning.
“We provide the meat for them. And then, of course, you have to cook it. So that takes quite a bit of time for a brisket,” said Garcia. “It’s definitely two days of nonstop barbecue.”
According to Garcia, the competition between members fighting to cook the best brisket, ribs and more is a fierce one.
“Every year we always have those like, ‘Hey, I should have won brisket. My brisket was the best,’ and then they might have gotten third or fourth,” described Garcia.
Even though teams are trying to make the best barbecue, Garcia said many of them end up making some friends along the way.
“Everyone is always [saying], ‘Hey, I want to be next to my partner from last year. I want to be by so-and-so,’” said Garcia. “Everyone looks forward to it.”
At the end of the long two days, Garcia said the work pays off, with all of the money made from the event going back into Hub City.
“All the money stays here in Lubbock. It goes towards good causes, helps promote the Lubbock Chamber, helps promote also Lubbock businesses,” said Garcia.
The Chamber said they sell about 4,000 tickets to the community each year, so folks can come out and try the barbecue and drinks themselves. Between 5:00pm and 8:00pm on Thursday, everyone got to network and eat while listening to live music from Sal and the Stonewall Hippies and Slade Coulter.
