Organizers of the Pigz in Z'hills barbecue and blues event expected about 1,000 people at their first event.
They were pleasantly surprised when 2,500 to 3,000 people attended the event at Krusen Field, which was 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at Krusen Field.
"We're just so pleased," said Vonnie Mikkelsen, executive director of the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event. "You work a lot of hours - a lot of volunteer hours - and put a lot into it. We just wanted people to show up, and not only did they show up, but they seemed to have a really good time. We were blown away."
Mikkelsen said she was pleased with the interaction between blues acts Liz Pennock and Dr. Blues, and local band Cold Iron. The Tampa Tribune was a sponsor of the event.
The barbecue competition included 13 teams who competed in professional or backyard categories.
The team, Pigsilly, led by Henry Hartzner of Wesley Chapel, won grand champion in the professional category, while Maine-ly BBQ, headed by Chamber President Mike Mira, won the backyard competition.
Mikkelsen said the event's blind-judging process ensured that the independent judges had "no way of knowing which team's entry was being tasted and judged at any given time."
She said chamber officials will meet in the next couple of weeks to determine if they want to try and have an official barbecue event sanctioned by the Florida Bar-B-Que Association or Kansas City Barbecue Society in 2011.
"If we are going to do that, we probably need to make that a priority," Mikkelsen said. "We'll need to get the application process going pretty quickly."
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