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Murphy plans Backyard Barbecue festival May 10 with ticketed tasting and $1,000 prize for best brisket
Summary
City staff outlined dates, registration fees, tasting-ticket limits, health-permit requirements and prize amounts for a May 10 Backyard Barbecue event at Murphy Central Park.
City staff described plans for a Murphy Backyard Barbecue community event during the Feb. 18 council meeting and said organizers hope to break ground on a new schedule of community events this year.
The event is scheduled for May 10, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with participating teams able to arrive and begin cooking the afternoon before, staff said. Registration for barbecue teams will be $50; teams providing food for the people—s-choice tasting must bring enough meat to serve 100 people. Tickets for the people—s-choice tasting will be $20 each and limited to 100 purchasers to match cooking capacity, staff said. "We're only selling 100 tickets for the tasting portion," the presenter said, explaining that most competing cooks would be using backyard smokers.
Why it matters: Organizers are positioning the event as a community fundraiser and an adult-focused festival with live music and local vendors. The city will cover the temporary health-permit fee for teams, but team members must hold food-handler certificates to obtain the permit.
Staff said prizes will include $1,000 and a championship belt for the competition brisket winner, $500 and a trophy for the people—s-choice winner, and a large annual trophy to be kept at the community center. The plan calls for 15 to 20 competing teams, with 20 as the maximum. The cooking area will be in the north parking lot of the PSA; serving and the tasting will occur in the food-truck court adjacent to the amphitheater and music stage.
Organizers said the people—s-choice category permits teams to choose any meat (brisket, pulled pork, chicken, turkey, etc.) and that all meat must be cooked on-site under the oversight of health inspectors, who will check temperatures periodically. Staff said they are looking for local barbecue-savvy judges but have not finalized the judging panel or final ticket on-sale date; team registration will be opened first so staff can assess resident participation before offering tasting tickets more widely.
City leaders and staff said the event aims to be a smaller, adult-oriented community event (no extensive children—s activities) with yard games, a small vendor market for barbecue-related products, food trucks and a possible beer garden run by local restaurants.
Ending: City staff said they will begin marketing and registration soon and that Murphy residents will be given priority for team slots; if resident interest is low, organizers will open registration to a wider area.
