The Montana Pitmaster Classic - Official State BBQ Championship of the state of Montana
What:
The Montana Pitmaster Classic is a 2-Day community event with lots of great food for sale or sample + free live music
Friday - Bozeman BBQ & Blues Night w/Andre Floyd (Montana's Original Blues Artist)
Saturday – BBQ Pro Demo Day + Official State BBQ Championship of the State of Montana (Officially Endorsed in 2017 by Gov. Bullock & sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society)
When:
Friday - August 25th (5pm - 8pm)
Saturday - August 26th (10am - 4pm)
Who:
40+ BBQ Pitmasters from all over the USA & Canada
Where:
Hosted by Kenyon Noble Lumber & Hardware - 1243 West Oak Street, Bozeman
Why:
A finger lickin’, mouthwaterin’, family friendly good time + a great community event to benefit & support the Gallatin Valley YMCA
The Montana Pitmaster Classic is a non-profit event created to increase awareness of the competitive world of barbeque & a community event that will benefit the Gallatin Valley YMCA. This event is a KCBS (KANSAS CITY BBQ SOCIETY) sanctioned competition where Kenyon Noble Lumber & Hardware of Bozeman is hosting over 40 professional and amateur contestants from all over the US and Canada. All these Pitmasters will be competing for the Montana State BBQ Championship in the categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. The overall highest scorer in all categories of this competition will become the Grand Champion of the tournament and state champion which will make them eligible for the Jack Daniel’s World Championship BBQ contest in Tennessee which is one of the biggest barbeque competitions in the world. This year, the 2022 Pitmaster Classic Grand Champion, Beer Belly BBQ of Glendive Montana, will be there to try to bring a world BBQ championship trophy back to Montana!
Friday, August 25th is Bozeman’s BBQ & Blues night, and features over 20 of the competition teams serving a variety of specialty BBQ foods at their booths with blues from Montana’s Original Blues Artist, Andre Floyd setting the mood for a great family event. On this night, all cash is converted over to BBQ chips that can be spent at the serving booths. All BBQ chips spent throughout the evening are collected, counted and whichever team sells the most food will receive the award as People’s Choice of the Montana Pitmaster Classic! A large portion of the revenue generated from this 2-day event will going directly back into the community & the Gallatin Valley YMCA.
On Saturday the 25th is Pitmaster Competition day and from 10am – 4pm during the competition there will be plenty of BBQ food sampling and grilling demonstrations from the professionals from the biggest names in grilling and barbeque, such as Big Green Egg, Trager, Weber, and Pit Boss. Also, Pizza Ovens from Ooni & Gozney will be holding informative demo & live shop classes that will inform folks about innovative ways to produce great barbeque with ease. This year, Traeger Wood Fired Grills will be bringing in a special guest, World Champion Pitmaster Chad Ward, who will be delivering in-person demos + classes, sharing his tips & tricks for top-notch wood fired BBQ. After the competition, stick around until 4:30 and see who will be crowned the 2023 Montana Pitmaster Classic Grand Champion at the trophy ceremony.
