Amarillo’s 30th Annual BBQ Cook-Off Is Bringing the Heat With Brisket, Ribs and 100-Plus Teams

Brisket, pork spare ribs, and a wild-card “Other Meat” category will be at the center of one of Amarillo’s longest-running fall food traditions when the Good Times Celebration Barbecue Cook-Off returns for its 30th annual edition.

The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce event is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 SE 10th in Amarillo. The Chamber says more than 100 cooking teams are expected to take part, bringing together competition barbecue, public tasting, live music, and an evening built around food prepared on-site.

For visitors, it is more than a competition happening behind the scenes. Admission includes food and drinks, giving ticket holders a chance to sample barbecue while judges separately decide which entries earn top marks.

Brisket and Pork Spare Ribs take Center Stage

The official competition centers on three judged categories: beef brisket, pork spare ribs, and Other Meat. Brisket entries are presented as sliced meat for judging. Under the Chamber’s published rules, slices cannot be thicker than a No. 2 pencil, and no garnish or decoration is permitted. Sauce may be used only if it has been cooked onto the brisket.

The pork spare rib category has similarly strict presentation rules. Entries must be pork spare ribs, not baby back ribs, and judges receive the meat without garnish or decoration. Sauce is permitted only when cooked directly onto the ribs.

The Other Meat category gives teams more flexibility. It can include other meats as well as baby back ribs, and unlike the brisket and spare-rib divisions, it allows garnish, sauces, and decoration.

That difference adds another layer to the competition. Brisket and ribs are judged under tightly controlled presentation rules, while Other Meat gives teams more room in how an entry reaches the judging table.

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Judges are looking at Much More Than Taste

The competition is divided into Professional, Corporate and Amateur divisions. Every entry is judged independently on five criteria: aroma, taste, appearance, smoke ring and texture or tenderness.

Judges award scores on a whole-number scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest mark. Teams must also provide eight servings of each entry submitted for judging, whether those are brisket slices, ribs, or servings in the Other Meat category.

The result is a competition where appearance and texture matter as much as flavor. A piece of barbecue can taste good and still face scrutiny over tenderness, visual appeal, or the quality of its smoke ring.

Another competitive element goes beyond the meat itself. Teams may also enter an optional showmanship contest, where judges consider factors such as theme, originality, audience appeal, costumes, and booth presentation.

The Cooking happens at the Fairgrounds

One of the event’s defining rules is that cooking must happen on-site. Teams must prepare their food on the premises rather than cooking it elsewhere and simply bringing it in for judging. Covered cooking devices are permitted, while open-top grills, holes, and pits are prohibited under the Chamber’s rules.

Food-preparation activities such as seasoning, marinating, and cutting must take place in designated screened preparation areas. The published rules also establish temperature requirements for handling food during the event. Raw foods must be refrigerated at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below, while cooked food must be held in covered warming containers at 135 degrees.

Those rules make the cook-off as much an on-site operation as a judging event. Teams are not simply presenting finished plates. They are preparing, managing, and serving barbecue within the fairgrounds while also meeting the competition’s judging requirements.

More Than 100 Teams are Expected

The Chamber says the 2026 cook-off will feature more than 100 cooking teams. Its 2026 business directory describes the event on a similar scale, citing 100 cooking teams representing 110 businesses, along with 100 volunteer judges.

The directory also describes attendance of more than 8,000 people as part of the event’s typical scale, though that figure should not be treated as a guaranteed 2026 attendance total. The combination helps explain why the cook-off has become a recurring early-October gathering for Amarillo’s business and food community.

The Chamber describes the barbecue as a tradition stretching back more than 25 years. In 2021, the event moved from its former downtown location to the Tri-State Fairgrounds, where it now takes place each year in early October.

What Tickets Include

The public side of the event uses all-inclusive admission. Advance tickets are $35 through October 7. Tickets purchased online or at the gate on the day of the event are $45. Children age 6 and younger are admitted free with a paid adult.

According to the Chamber, admission includes food, drinks, networking, and live music. That means visitors won’t buy individual competition dishes one at a time. The event is structured around a single admission price that gives attendees access to the food being served during the evening.

The Chamber notes that food is intended to be consumed at the event, and attendees may not take large amounts outside the gates.

What Visitors should not assume will be on the Menu

The confirmed competition categories are brisket, pork spare ribs, and Other Meat. Current event materials do not confirm chicken or sausage as official 2026 judging categories, and they also do not provide a verified menu listing items such as jalapeño poppers, dirty rice, tacos, or desserts.

Likewise, the current sources do not provide a complete team-by-team menu or identify which individual cooking teams will serve which dishes. That leaves the strongest reason to attend exactly where the official rules put it: on the barbecue competition itself.

Visitors can expect an evening built around meats cooked on-site, judged for everything from taste to smoke ring and served as part of an all-inclusive food event.

What Visitors Need to Know

The 30th Annual Good Times Celebration Barbecue Cook-Off takes place Thursday, October 8, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Tri-State Fairgrounds in Amarillo.

More than 100 cooking teams are expected, with competition centered on brisket, pork spare ribs, and other meats across Professional, Corporate, and Amateur divisions.

For Amarillo barbecue fans, that sets up an evening where the food isn’t simply served; it’s scored, compared, and judged one slice and rib at a time.

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