Florida’s Lakeland Pigfest
The 26th annual Lakeland Pigfest is one of the largest barbecue competitions in the Southeast, and the largest Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) event in Florida. It’s set for January 27, 2023, and January 28, 2023, at the SUN ‘m’ FUN Expo Campus, 4175 Medulla Road, Lakeland, Florida.
The Pigfest will feature more than 150 competition barbecue teams during a weekend of “good eatin’, good friends, and good tunes” to benefit Lakeland-area charities. Since 1997, the event has generated more than two million dollars.
Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. January 27, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. January 28.
According to the organizers, the seeds for the Lakeland Pigfest were first planted in 1994 when a small group of local businessmen, vacationing in North Carolina, attended a Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned barbecue championship in Tryon, North Carolina. As interest grew in the community, then Governor Lawton Chiles signed a request for the formal sanctioning of the Lakeland Pigfest as KCBS State Championship on November 19, 1996. Finally, a date was set to bring a barbecue championship to Lakeland, and on March 21, 1997 the Lakeland Pigfest was born.
KCBS is “the largest international organization of barbecue enthusiasts” and has sanctioned the Lakeland Pigfest since its first contest in 1997. Professional teams travel from all over the U.S. to compete in four categories: Ribs, Chicken, Pork and Brisket.
Here’s a video about Pigfest:
(Logo and video courtesy of Pigfest)
