Virtual BBQ and Brew Festival to premiere Friday

Grill masters, chef battle, musical performances among show’s features

The City of Yuma invites residents and visitors to view this year’s BBQ and Brew Festival, a virtual event, which premieres at 4 p.m. Friday on the city’s social media platforms and on City 73 TV.

With health and safety restrictions on large gatherings still in place, the festival will go video-only this year to whet the appetite for tasty barbecue. The virtual festival will feature local barbecue and restaurant chefs and interviews with local brewers. The event will also peek inside a local backyard barbecue.

A head-to-head cooking challenge on tri-tip beef pits Mayor Douglas Nicholls and Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan

Lines against local restaurant Holy Smokes. Judging the cook-off are former Yuma County Supervisor Russell McCloud, Jennifer Blackwell of Z93 radio, and Keith Boyd of Klein’s Electric.

Performances from local country music bands Downtime and Bobby McClendon round out the festival activities.

The event will include a special appearance by celebrity chef Phillip Dell, a Food Network “Chopped” champion. Dell personally appeared in Yuma’s previous two BBQ and Brew Festivals.

“I am excited for Yuma to experience this virtual event for all the local finger-licking good BBQ, paired with just the right brew,” said Heritage Festivals Coordinator Joanne Fiser.

The Yuma United Firefighters Association shares how important this event is to their nonprofit that helps multiple people in our community.

Reigning Rodeo Queen Abiela Conde will sing the national anthem, with colors presented by the Yuma Mounted Sheriff’s Posse.

The BBQ and Brew Festival gained some traction in 2020, its second year, having grown to include a barbecue competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

“While we won’t have any competition meats for you to sample this year, we are working to keep the flames hot until you can join us again for an even better BBQ and Brew Fest in 2022,” Fiser said.

View the BBQ and Brew Festival beginning 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, on the following platforms:

• Cable channel City 73 for Spectrum subscribers

• City of Yuma Government on Facebook

• CityOfYuma on YouTube

• Cityofyumaaz on Instagram