Spring is here and planning for the Cornelia Apple Blossom BBQ Competition is in full swing. The City of Cornelia is preparing for thousands of visitors from all over North Georgia to attend.
The competition, now in its sixth year, will be held Saturday, April 22 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in downtown Cornelia. It’s a qualifying event for the Georgia BBQ Championship so there will be plenty of great barbecue to enjoy. If you want to taste it all, you’d better plan on getting there early. A limited number of tickets will be sold on the day of the event starting at 11 a.m.
Tickets are $10. They’ll be sold at the ticket and information booth set up in the parking lot near Hodges and Main Streets (see map below).
A domestic beer garden will be provided by Bigg Daddy’s and a craft beer garden will be provided by Whistle Top Brew Company. Both places will have live music.
Sweet Acre Farms Winery will provide the wine garden at the Depot main stage.
Other activities include the Kid Zone, Chopped Competition and the annual rib eating contest. Also, Habersham Hardware will be hosting the first ever Traegerfest in the Depot parking lot with cooks doing food demos on Traeger grills.
Good food & good times
Cornelia’s Community Development Manager Jessie Owensby says, “We have 36 teams participating in the competition this year and we are looking forward to having thousands of people in Downtown. This event brings the community together, along with our visitors, to have a good time and eat good BBQ!”
Festivities will begin at 10:40 a.m. with the annual rib-eating competition. The lineup of live local entertainment includes 14 Roots and the Second Time Around band. Premiere Dance Academy will hold its Spring Recital on the Main Stage at 12:30.
The Train Museum will also be open for tours throughout the day.
The prize purse for the BBQ competition is over $10,000 with the chance to advance to the next round of competition.
Apple Tree Alley, the Depot parking lot and Clarkesville Street will be closed for the festival beginning Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m.
For more information, contact Community Development Manager Jessie Owensby at [email protected] or call 706-778-8585 ext. 280.
