I arrived at the festival to find freezing temperatures and a light mist of rain. All the barbecue from the cookoff contestants(the ones with donation boxes) was free. Nominal donations are suggested at whatever booth you choose to eat at, with all donations going to local youth charities. It seems most of the people were only giving away chicken, beans, and a few ribs. I couldn’t find brisket anywhere. They said brisket prices are at an all time high. Restaurants that used to sell brisket for $ 12.99 a pound are now charging almost $ 20, like the world famous Franklin’s in Austin. Experts are expecting many barbecue restaurants to go out of business. The drought and the popularity of Texas BBQ has driven the working class man from enjoying this Texas favorite, and the BBQ folks from making an honest living. And, let me tell you something: looking at these teams out here – these individuals are rough and tough, but they have a lot of heart. Half of the vendors in the vendor fair area did not show up. There was a serious lack of food at this festival. All they had was someone selling chips and salsa and the Filipino food truck selling pork on a stick. I bought a sweet bread(cranberry-orange) from the you name it I bake it booth. You can find at least 7 or 8 hot food vendors at the New Braunfels farmers market every Saturday. At this time this festival seems a little unorganized and unapproachable. This is only the second year of this charitable event and maybe in subsequent years, it will be more consumer friendly. I can see how it could be intimidating for the women to try to get some of these BBQ samples from the trucks. I hope they make some money for the youth charities regardless of the cold and rain. Surprisingly, tomorrow it’s supposed to be 70 degrees.
