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The smokey aroma of delicious BBQ will fill the Hope Town Square this weekend as the 13^th Annual Smoke on the Square returns from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to sellout Saturday, with proceeds from the two-day event benefitting the Community Center of Hope.

Last year’s event drew an estimated crowd of 1,500 people with nearly 2,000 sandwiches sold, says Chelsea Warriner, executive director of the Community Center of Hope.

“We want to maintain the same fun atmosphere and get everyone down to the Square and hang out for a while,” Warriner says. “Smell the BBQ, get a look at the teams and see what the competitors are doing.”

Returning this year are the ladies from the Kappa Kappa Sigma Sorority who will be selling funnel cakes, Warriner adds.

“We have a plethora of different vendors this year,” Warriner says. “Including five or six craft vendors and some home improvement vendors that each have their own niche. There will also be a mobile boutique, handmade jewelry and personalized gifts.”

In addition to BBQ smoked to perfection by 13 different competitors and counting, the event will also feature the return of the One Bite Challenge, organizers say.

Warriner says she is personally looking forward to the challenge, for which she will be a judge.

“We’ve done different things over the years,” she says. “So, it has put me out of my comfort zone because I don’t typically eat a lot outside of the typical proteins we eat. One year, we did frog legs… that was interesting.”

Event promoter and the Community Center of Hope Board President Jeff Yarnell says the One Bite Challenge is always fun.

The way it works is the teams show up to smoke BBQ with no prior knowledge of what the ‘surprise protein’ will be – so they don’t know what to bring or how to prepare, Yarnell says.

“They won’t know until Saturday morning,” he says. “At about 9 or 10 a.m., we open the cooler and hand it to them.”

As long as clear skies prevail, local favorite Night Owl Country Band will take the stage Friday evening and Southern Rhythm will perform Saturday, organizers say.    

“I think the exciting thing is always seeing what kind of smokers they use and who does what on their smoker,” Warriner says. “Me, personally, I like everyone being down there hanging out and the food is a nice bonus.”

As in previous years, competitors will be vying for bragging rights, cash prizes and a trophy in the categories of Meat, including chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork and beef, Dessert and BBQ Sauce. All meat entries will be judged on taste, flavor, texture and tenderness.

For each category, the prize money breakdown will be as follows:

1^st Place $200 and trophy
2^nd Place $150 and trophy
3^rd Place $75 and trophy

1^st Place Dessert and 1^st Place BBQ Sauce each get $50 and a trophy, respectively.

4^th through 10^th Places will receive a ribbon.

Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion each receive a trophy.

There is still time for competitors to register, organizers say. Registration information and entry form are available HERE.