Need an excuse to travel to beautiful, veg-friendly Asheville? Join us for the 2nd Great North Carolina Vegan Barbecue Cookoff (hosted by Mountain Vegans Meetup Group (https://www.meetup.com/Mountain-Vegans/), Your Vegan Mentor and THE BLOCK off biltmore) to benefit the Animal Haven of Asheville.

Our sponsors are offering some cool prizes for the top 3 entries, and for door prizes! Sponsors include No Evil Foods, The Hop Ice Cream Cafe, Rosetta’s Kitchen, Sanctuary Brewing, Smiling Hara Hempeh, French Broad Chocolates, Hopey & Co., and Roots Hummus.

You can enter your vegan barbecue in the competition, or just attend to taste all the entries. Get your tickets early! Advance tickets are less expensive AND you are served first! Get them here: https://greatncveganbbq.bpt.me

Don’t delay getting your tickets — last year it sold out!

Here’s how it works:

Cook up your best vegan barbecue and bring it to THE BLOCK Off Biltmore (39 S. Market Street, Asheville, NC) to be entered in the competition. We will award 3 winners. (All entries MUST arrive at 3:30 and be completely set up and ready to go no later than 3:45.)

All entries must be vegan (no meat, fish, poultry, dairy, honey, or gelatin). Please bring enough for a bunch of folks (last year we had 80) to have a small tasting of your dish. Just bring your barbecue, no buns or slaw or sides. (We will send out an email a few days before the event to let you know our guess on how many folks we expect to attend.)

NOTE: All dishes must arrive prepared. There is no cooking on site. You may have your entry in a chafing dish if you’d like. There will not be electricity to plug in crockpots, etc. Please, bring your own serving utensil. Thank you!

NOT A CHEF? NOT A PROBLEM! Please come and help us judge the entries, buy a beer, soda or kombucha and enjoy socializing. Please bring your appetite and your own plate and fork. Thank you!

Schedule:

3:30-3:45 All Cooks MUST arrive, check in and set up.

3:30-4:00 Tasters/Judges arrive, check in, buy a drink, find the Meetup group (we’ll have a Meetup sign on the table — please look for us and sit with us if you RSVP here as going ), and be ready to start tasting at 4:00!

4:00-4:15 Let the tasting begin! Attendees who purchased advance tickets will line up and take a small taste from each entry.

4:15-4:30 Next round of tasting! Attendees who purchased tickets at the door will line up and take a small taste from each entry.

4:30-4:45 Finish eating, socialize, and fill out your ballots!

4:45-5:00 Ballots are tabulated.

5:00-5:15 Winners are announced. Prizes awarded. Photos taken.

5:15-5:30 Clean up, socialize and depart.
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Parking info:

Parking is free in the municipal lot at Spruce and Marjorie.

The Aloft Hotel parking lot’s first hour is free.

There is also parking at Charlotte and Eagle but it’s a bit of an incline.

The church lot at 47 Eagle is a paid lot (flat $5)

Street parking is often available.

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Get your tickets early (https://greatncveganbbq.bpt.me)! Advance tickets are less expensive AND you are served first!

To Enter: free if you register before midnight June 29th, $5 any entry after that
To Sample/Judge: $10 (sales close June 29th), $15 at the door
(NOTE: any sales at the door will be CASH only.)

Proceeds go towards Animal Haven of Asheville, a nonprofit Asheville-based refuge for homeless and abused animals. (Note: a portion of the admission will go to TBOB for use of the space.) Prizes will be awarded for the top 3 winners.

We hope to see you there! This will be one yummy competition!