GRAND BAY, Ala. — Pitmasters, food lovers and families are filling a campground in south Mobile County this weekend as Smoke at the Park, a two-day barbecue festival and cook-off, heads into its busiest stretch on Saturday in Grand Bay.
The event opened Friday afternoon at Creekside Campground RV Park on Grand Bay-Wilmer Road and ran until 9 p.m. It picks back up Saturday with the main barbecue competition, local vendors and live entertainment. Organizers said they expect roughly 2,000 people to come through over the two days.
Smoke at the Park is hosted by Mason Hills, the Grand Bay cattle farm and butcher operation, and benefits Farmers in Action, a nonprofit that supports local food initiatives.
Saturday’s Lineup: Steak, Barbecue and a Burger Challenge
Saturday’s activities begin at 10 a.m. The day centers on competitive cooking, with teams entering both steak and barbecue categories. Festivalgoers are not just spectators, either: a People’s Choice tasting lets visitors sample entries and help decide a winner.
The schedule also includes a hamburger eating contest, vendor booths, live music and a petting zoo for younger visitors. Car enthusiasts get their own window later in the day, when a cruise-in featuring new and vintage vehicles runs from 4 to 8 p.m.
Here is a quick look at Saturday’s offerings:
- Steak and barbecue cooking competitions
- People’s Choice tasting
- Hamburger eating contest
- Local vendors and live music
- Petting zoo
- Cruise-in for new and vintage vehicles, 4 to 8 p.m.
A Custom Smoker on the Line
Competing pitmasters have plenty of incentive to bring their best. The first-place finisher will take home a custom HBT smoker, a prize that any serious backyard or competition cook would appreciate. Other winners will receive beef packages from Mason Hills, the host farm.
For barbecue teams, a custom-built smoker is more than a trophy. Smokers are the core tool of the craft, and competition cooks often spend years refining how they manage fire, airflow and temperature on a particular pit. Winning new equipment can shape how a team cooks for seasons to come.
Friday Kicked Off With Dinner at the Table
The festival opened Friday at 3 p.m. with vendors and live music, along with a seated meal billed as “Dinner at the Table.” The dinner was served in four seatings, at 5, 6:15, 7:30 and 8:45 p.m., and organizers encouraged guests to reserve and pay in advance.
The format gave visitors a chance to slow down and share a meal before Saturday’s more competitive, high-energy schedule. Tickets, dinner reservations, vendor registration, cooking team registration and sponsorship information were offered through the Mason Hills Farm website.
The Farm Behind the Festival
Mason Hills Farm is a 250-acre operation in Grand Bay owned by Joey Mason, who serves as president of both Mason Hills Farm and Farmers in Action. Mason, a Bay Minette native and Baldwin County High School graduate, came to farming without an agricultural background. He bought the Grand Bay property in late 2020 after selling a landscaping business.
Facing long waits for outside beef processing, Mason built his own facility. The farm describes it as the only USDA-certified processing plant located on a farm in its area, and the first animal was harvested there under USDA inspection on Dec. 12, 2022. The farm dry-ages its beef for 14 days and sells it through an on-site butcher shop, with wholesale customers that include downtown Mobile restaurants.
Mason Hills is also expanding its retail presence, with a grand opening planned for a new Mason Hills store in Summerdale in Baldwin County.
Barbecue fundraising is not new for the farm. Mason previously hosted a Smoke on the Farm barbecue weekend that sent its proceeds to Farmers in Action. Smoke at the Park carries that idea forward on a larger scale, pairing a cook-off with a full festival lineup.
Supporting Farmers in Action
Proceeds from Smoke at the Park benefit Farmers in Action, the nonprofit Mason leads. The group supports local food initiatives, an effort that ties directly to the farm-to-table approach at the heart of the Mason Hills operation.
Events like this one serve two purposes for a small agricultural nonprofit. They raise money, and they put local farmers and food producers in front of a crowd of potential customers, many of whom may not realize how much beef, produce and other food is raised just a short drive from their homes.
Barbecue Season in South Alabama
October is a popular month for outdoor food festivals along the Gulf Coast, when temperatures ease from summer highs and long afternoons outdoors become more comfortable. Barbecue cook-offs in particular have a devoted following in Alabama, a state with deep smoked-meat traditions and a crowded field of competition teams.
Smoke at the Park also comes as communities across Mobile and Baldwin counties return to their normal fall calendars after Hurricane Isaias disrupted events earlier this month. Several festivals in the region were canceled or rescheduled because of the storm, making this weekend’s events a welcome return to routine for many families.
Grand Bay, a largely rural community in southwestern Mobile County near the Mississippi line, is known for its farms and wide-open spaces. A campground setting gives the festival room for cooking teams, vendors, cars and crowds, along with the relaxed, outdoor feel that suits a day of barbecue.
If You Go
- What: Smoke at the Park barbecue festival and cook-off, hosted by Mason Hills
- When: Saturday, Oct. 17, starting at 10 a.m.; cruise-in from 4 to 8 p.m.
- Where: Creekside Campground RV Park, 9560 Grand Bay-Wilmer Road, Grand Bay
- Highlights: Steak and barbecue competitions, People’s Choice tasting, hamburger eating contest, vendors, live music, petting zoo
- Top prize: A custom HBT smoker for first place; Mason Hills beef packages for other winners
- Benefits: Farmers in Action
- Expected crowd: About 2,000 people over two days
