If you following along closely to all the fun we have during the Savannah Food and Wine Festival, then you probably know just how spectacular last year’s “Q-Masters BBQ” event was out on the street in front of Service Brewing. There were a lot of great events last year, but that one was top 2-3. The BBQ across the board was just that darn good. That event is going to happen again here in Savannah, you can click here for more information about that, but if you don’t want to wait, you can get in on what will be a similar amazing time at the St. Simons Island Food and Spirits Festival during the 1st week of October.
On Thursday, October 5th St. Simon’s Island Food and Spirits Festival is rolling out their 1st “Firebox BBQ” event.
The event, presented by Local Palate Magazine, will feature some of the best BBQ Masters from around the South. Those terms sometimes get tossed around loosy-goosy, but I am here to tell you the line up for St. Simon’s is as good as I have ever seen along Georgia’s coast.
Of course the “Home Team” to coin a phrase is Southern Soul BBQ from St. Simons Island. If you’ve never had it, it is absolutely as good as anyone will tell you it is. “It’s going to be a blast,” Southern Soul Barbeque co-owner Griffin Bufkin said. “We’re going to be out there all day. People are welcome to hang out and have a beer with us, and we’re going to feed everybody who comes.”
Among the pitmasters participating in FIREBOX will be world-renowned Barbeque Hall of Famer and 17th Street Barbecue owner Mike Mills, known affectionately as “The Legend.” Other prominent pitmasters include Sam Jones of Skylight Inn BBQ and Sam Jones BBQ in North Carolina, and Bryan Furman of B’s Cracklin’ Barbeque in Savannah and Atlanta.
The festival was canceled last year due to Hurricane Matthew, but Bufkin said the five years prior, he and Sapp hosted an event similar to a golf Pro-Am, where amateur golfers play a round of golf with professionals. In this case, the golfers were the amateurs who got to hang out while the pros – the pitmasters – cooked for them. Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Davis Love and Hudson Swafford are just a few of the pros who have attended in the past.
This year, however, the golfers will be on the road so Bufkin and Sapp decided to switch things up a bit. Instead of inviting professional golfers to the event, they invited old friends from the barbeque business.
“We have a lot of fun,” Bufkin said. “These are good friends of ours, so it’s kind of like a family reunion.”
Tickets can be purchased at www.ssifoodandspirits.com and include all food and beverage tastings. Cost is $55 per person for general admission and $100 per person for the exclusive VIP Lounge. Tickets to the VIP Lounge get you a front-row seat to watch The Futurebirds at a family-style table in a catered tent with a private bar. There are only 50 tickets for the lounge.
Summer advance tickets are $44 per person for general admission, available only through August 31. Combos and packages are also available through August 31: $78 for two general admission tickets; $59 per person for one general admission ticket to FIREBOX and one general admission ticket to Flights & Bites; and $89 for one general admission ticket to FIREBOX, one ticket to Flights & Bites and one general admission ticket to Tasting Under the Oaks. There are a limited number of advance discount tickets; when they have sold out, ticket prices will rise to the next available cost, if available.
The St. Simons Island Food & Spirits Festival is a five-day celebration of the cuisine, beverages and entertainment found in the Golden Isles of Georgia. A nonprofit organization, the festival raises money and awareness for Hospice of the Golden Isles. For the most up-to-date festival information, CLICK HERE
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