BLUES, BANDITS & BBQ Rules
1. Go Oak Cliff sanctions this event with all rules for judging as written by this organization.
2. A contestant or team consists of one chief cook and no more than four assistants. Contestants may check into the
BBQ Cook off grounds (Kidd Springs Park., Dallas, TX 75208) beginning at 4:00pm Friday, November 17, 2017, but
MUST be in place by 7:00pm Friday, November 17, 2017.
3. Categories for the BLUES, BANDITS & BBQ COMPETITION are as follows: BEEF BRISKET, CHICKEN, PORK
SPARE RIBS, PULLED PORK, SAUSAGE (Sausage does NOT have to be homemade.)
COOKED ON SITE:
All competitors will bring their own meat to the site RAW…No pre-marinating, precooking, or pre-
spicing prior to official start time. Promoters have established an official START TIME as Friday, November 17, 2017 at
5:00pm.
SAUCE: You may COOK with sauce but DO NOT add sauce, marinade, sop, or juice to meat or container once the
meat is prepared for judging. No garnishing or markers allowed for the judges portions. (These rules don’t apply for the
People’s Choice Sampling/ Judging.)
4. Cooks are to prepare and cook barbecue in as sanitary a manner as possible. Cooking conditions are subject to
inspection by the Go Oak Cliff BBQ Committee and/or County and State Health Inspectors.
Conditions found to be unsanitary will be grounds for disqualification from this cookoff. Fires must be wood or wood
substance. NO gas or electric fires are allowed. No holes, open fires, or dug pits will be allowed. However, a burn-down
barrel will be allowed but MUST have some type of safety barrier placed across the top and around the sides of the
barrel. Precautions MUST be made to prevent any fire threat. All teams must have at least ONE fire extinguisher on
site.
5. JUDGING:
Contest meats will be judged on Saturday, November 18. Contest meats must be delivered to the
designated judging location. Attend the Cooks Meeting at 11:00am Saturday for explanation of the rules, any additional
instructions and confirmation of turn-in times for each category. Please turn approximately a half pound of meat, sliced
for the judges in the provided numbered tray
WINNERS FOR ALL CATEGORIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 4:30pm
6. BLIND JUDGING: You will receive 1 tray per category. Each of these trays will be numbered so that the judges do not
know which team’s food they are tasting.
7. All Cooking Teams will also be judged for People’s Choice. Go Oak Cliff will sell tasting wrist bands for attendees that
want to participate in judging the People’s Choice category. Each team will need to make sufficient meat to be passed
out in SMALL samples from 1pm – 3pm. You should have samples of the categories you enter and having additional
samples of non-entry BBQ is permissible. Voting tickets will be distributed with each purchased wristband. Each team
needs a vessel where the voting tickets can be placed as each ticket counts as a ‘vote’. Go Oak Cliff will tally the votes
at 3:15pm and announce the winners at 4:30pm.
8. Any nudity, lewdness, or any form of vulgarity will NOT be allowed. NO pyrotechnics or explosives are allowed. Any
intentional use of the above by a team will result in disqualification, removal from grounds and elimination from the
tournament.
9. Prize money and trophies will be awarded as follows:
- Best Brisket / People’s Choice: $250.00 (each)
- Best Chicken / Pork Ribs / Sausage / Pulled Pork: $100.00 (each)
10. Music Bands, and/or sound equipment within your team area is allowed. HOWEVER, excessively loud music and/or
sounds that interfere with announcements, scheduled live bands and entertainment on stage, or that intrude upon or
interfere with the comfort of fellow contestants will NOT BE ALLOWED OR TOLERATED. Offenders will receive no
more that three warnings from representatives of Go Oak Cliff and non-compliance will be grounds for disqualification
from the Cookoff and expulsion from the Barbecue Cookoff Grounds.
11. QUIET TIME is 11:00pm, Friday night until 7:00am Saturday morning. All teams will need someone with their grill/
smoker at all times. Please be respectful of the neighborhood around the event site, especially on the overnight shift.
12. Contest spaces of 20’x20’ will be available for each team. There is no electricity available at these spots. All cooking
facilities, rigs, props or show articles must fit within your team’s contest space. Go Oak Cliff will provide one 10’x10’ tent
and two 6 foot tables for use in distributing the People’s Choice samples.
Per the Parks Department, NO PARKING ON THE GRASS.
AFTER UNLOADING PLEASE IMMEDIATELY REMOVE YOUR VEHICLE!
13. The Chief Cook for each team will be responsible for the conduct of his team, guests or invitees. Additionally, the
Chief Cook will be responsible for his team’s compliance with the rules land regulations herein set forth. EXCESSIVE
USE of alcoholic beverages will be grounds for disqualification. Contestants must not give, offer, sell or donate alcoholic
beverages to the general public. Teams will only offer BBQ to the public if they have purchased the BBQ Tasting Wrist
Band. Any offensive conduct will be grounds for disqualification from the Cookoff and expulsion from the Barbecue
Cookoff Grounds.
14. GO OAK CLIFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE ADDITIONAL RULES AND REGULATIONS AS THE
SITUATION WARRANTS. DECISIONS OF GO OAK CLIFF ARE FINAL.
15. Go Oak Cliff, its members or directors, the City of Dallas, and all participating landlords will not be held responsible
for theft or damage to equipment or bodily injury of any kind.
16. Animal(s) of any kind WILL NOT BE PERMITTED in any contestant’s contest space nor will any animal(s) be
permitted on the BBQ Cookoff Grounds, EXCEPT for seeing-eye dogs.
Any additional questions can be directed to Stacey Spillers or Amy Cowan at info@gooakcliff.org.
Go Oak Cliff presents Blues, Bandits, & BBQ 