Those who believe their barbecue specialties are award worthy are encouraged to register for the Stuart Revitalization Group’s inaugural Best of the Block BBQ Cook-Off.

This family-friendly event will take place September 20-21 in downtown Stuart, and awards will be given for the categories of spare ribs, pork butt, whole chicken, brisket, and grand champion of all four. Organizer Russ Wagner says the meat will already be provided for those who compete, “It could be an individual, it could be a group of people, it could be a company, you know, hopefully we’ll get some friendly competition from some of the surrounding communities as well. And we do have $3,500 in cash awards, there will be a first, second, and third place for each category and then a Grand Reserve Champion. The only stipulation on that is we do have to have a minimum of five teams that cook all four meats.”

The entry fee is $150 per team and check in will be on Friday the 20th at 5 p.m. or Saturday the 21st at 5 a.m. The cook-off will also include all-you-can-eat chicken wings for attendees, a DJ, live band, kids activities, and more. For a link to sign up, visit here.