Gettin' Sauced! details emerging

Planning is in full swing for our 2nd annual Gettin' Sauced! BBQ sauce contest/festival. Brad, our two interns, and I are working daily to prepare what we hope will be a fun event that will offer great value for the price. The event is more than 4 months away, but it's taking shape nicely. Here's the latest:

Day & time: Saturday, August 27, 2011, 3-6 PM (time subject to change)

Venue: Independence Brewing Co., Austin, TX

Cost: $8 in advance, $10 at the door (Click here to purchase tickets). A portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to the charity of our choice (TBA soon).

Format: The event is part contest, part festival. For the contest portion, panels of judges will rate the BBQ sauces that are entered in the contest. There will be two divisions (Fresh & Bottled), with categories for each (tomato mild, mustard spicy, etc.). As of now, more than 60 sauces from 18 states & 3 countries (including the U.S.) have been entered. The judges' panels will consist of invited judges and first-come, first-served purchasers of judges' tickets ($15 each - includes event entry and everything that comes with it). For the festival portion, we'll have lots of vendors (some serving sauce, some serving BBQ, some simply promoting their business), live Texas music (TBA), free cold drinks, and great door prizes. All sauces, food, and drinks are included in the price of admission. Attendees will choose a People's Choice winner from among the sauces served by vendors.

Sponsors: We've lined up some terrific sponsors thus far: Barbeques Galore, TexasFood.com, Thomas Saverio Salon & Spa, Taste of the South, BBQSauceReviews.com, Yelp Austin, Beck-Reit & Sons, & Beer Bouquet. Multiple types of sponsorship are available, from paid to in-kind/trade. We hope to line up more sponsors, so if you're interested in getting some exposure to a crowd of BBQ enthusiasts or know of a business who might be, we'd love to hear from you.

Get more information & updates via gettinsauced.com, our Twitter page, our Facebook page, and our Facebook event page.