Last Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the organizers for the 2010 Lakeland Pig Festival, as well as members from a few local BBQ Cook Teams to talk about the coming 2010 Pig Fest Event and what it has meant as far as putting Lakeland, Florida on the BBQ Map.

Nick Nicholas and Kerrie Hall, from the Lakeland Pig Fest Organizing Committee were great.  They explained a lot about how much the event, especially the Backyard BBQ portion, means locally in terms of bringing BBQ lovers and local cooks together to share the love of BBQ.   As a testament to the national draw of the Lakeland Pig Festival, Mr. Ray Lampe – known to many as Dr. BBQ – was also in attendance.  He’s been involved with the Pig Festival from the start, and is a valued and greatly appreciated local BBQ resource.  (By the way, check out Dr. BBQ’s videos over at Firecooker.com, and add some of your own there, too!)

The local teams in attendance were Whiskey Bent BBQ from Lakeland and Team Unknown BBQ from Winter Haven.  Each of these award-winning teams always provide a lot of great information and personality to any meet up, and if you make it to the Pig Festival, you should definitely check them out.

2010 Lakeland Pig Festival Promo with Nick Nicholas and Kerrie Hall

Check out this video to learn a bit more about the Lakeland Pig Festival, its history, its charitable side, and the great things you can look forward to this January!

Lakeland Pig Festival will be held on January 29 and 30, 2010. To download applications, rules and event schedules click here. For more information contact pigfest@jlgl.org.