McDade Watermelon Festival BBQ Cookoff

07/21/2026

07/21/2026

🔥Congratulations to our overall Winners!!! 🔥

#1 🎉Grand Champion 👏 Bearfoot Cookers
#2 🎉Reserve Grand Champion 👏 Rockin' W BBQ
#3 👏 Smokin' Aces
#4 👏 Just Smokin' Around
#5 👏 Lost In The Smoke BBQ
#6 👏 3H BBQ
#7 👏 523 BBQ
#8 👏 Boss BBQ
#9 👏 ALL THE SMOKE BBQ
#10👏 Austin Smoke Works #3 - Poppy's Q Michael Briseno

Thanks again to our Official Champions Barbecue Alliance (CBA) Group judges Adriana Avila and Jerry Armendariz

07/13/2026

🍉🔥 THANK YOU for another incredible McDade Watermelon Festival BBQ Cook-Off! 🔥🍉

What an amazing weekend! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make the 4th Annual McDade Watermelon Festival BBQ Cook-Off, presented by Tumlinson Electric and UA Local 286 Plumbers & Pipefitters, such a tremendous success.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to the 34 competition teams who traveled from across Texas to cook with us. Your talent, sportsmanship, and dedication are what make this event one of the highlights of the festival each year.

We also want to recognize our outstanding sponsors, whose generosity made this event possible:

👏 Elgin Breeding Service, Inc.
👏 Acme Brick Company
👏 Covert Ford Hutto and Covert Chevy Hutto
👏Tito's Handmade Vodka
👏 Capital Farm Credit – Taylor
👏 WBS International
👏 Ledesma Lawncare-Ramsey Ledesma
👏 Lone Star Mulch & Compost
👏 MOC Products
👏 Dirt Merchants – Giddings
👏 The Kylberg Family
👏 The Ortega & Diaz Families
👏 Aaron & Raine Griffith

Because of our competitors, sponsors, volunteers, and the incredible support of our community, we raised nearly $10,000 that will be reinvested into McDade and the surrounding communities to benefit our youth and local programs.

In just our fourth year, we're proud to be a growing part of the McDade Watermelon Festival, bringing championship barbecue teams from all across the State of Texas to our small town. Watching competitors, visitors, and our community come together to celebrate great barbecue while raising money for a great cause is what it's all about.

To every cook, sponsor, volunteer, festival organizer, and everyone who came out to support us—THANK YOU! Your support is what makes this event possible, and we can't wait to do it all again next year.

See you in 2027! 🍉🔥❤️

07/10/2026

Kicking off our cook-off today thanks to our awesome sponsors!

Presenting Sponsors UA Local 286 Plumbers & Pipefitters and Tumlinson Electric

Sponsored by Elgin Breeding Service, Inc. Acme Brick Company Covert Ford and Chevy of Hutto Tito's Handmade Vodka Capital Farm Credit Lone Star Mulch & Compost Dirt Merchants of Giddings MOC Products Company, Inc. WBS International Ledesma Lawncare- Ramsey Ledesma

Cookers it's not to late to make the short trip to McDade Watermelon Festival!

$8500 Guaranteed!

07/07/2026

🍉🔥 IT'S COOK-OFF WEEK! 🔥🍉

The countdown is over! Join us THIS WEEKEND for the McDade Watermelon Festival BBQ Cook-Off!

🏆 CBA State Championship 🥩 CBA Sanctioned 💰 $8,500 GUARANTEED Prize Money 📍 Just 30 minutes east of Austin in historic McDade, Texas!

🚚 Early check-in is available Thursday after 4:00 PM, so come in, get set up, and get ready for an incredible weekend of championship BBQ, great competition, and festival fun!

Don't miss your chance to compete for championship points, big payouts, and bragging rights at one of Central Texas' favorite summer traditions.

✅ Register online today!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemgd8bFyUQKGUzq9hahLQgKu13J-VY0_Vzc_85-vrmobWwMA/viewform

Gather your team, fire up the pits, and we'll see you in McDade!

🍉🔥

07/04/2026

🇺🇸 We are just a week away! 🇺🇸 Our volunteers are ready to see you all again! But for today... Take time to celebrate 250 years of being Americans! 🇺🇸 See you next week! 🇺🇸

07/02/2026

🍖🍗Just a week away!!! Let us know you are coming! 🍖🍗

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemgd8bFyUQKGUzq9hahLQgKu13J-VY0_Vzc_85-vrmobWwMA/viewform

06/29/2026

⏳ COUNTDOWN TO COOK-OFF TIME ⏳

Spots are filling up!

If you've been thinking about entering, now's the time to lock in your team. Register @ https://www.mcdadetexas.com/bbq-cook-off.html

Join us for a weekend of competition, fellowship, great food, and the legendary Friday Night Street Dance.

🔥 WHY COMPETE IN MCDADE? 🔥

Because great BBQ deserves a great crowd and a great cause and we have both!

Thousands of festival attendees make the McDade Watermelon Festival one of the most exciting weekends of the summer. Everyone comes out to support the youth and community of McDade at the McDade Watermelon Festival!

Bring your best brisket. Bring your best chicken. Bring your best game.

We'll see you at the pits.



Register today! @ https://www.mcdadetexas.com/bbq-cook-off.html



Sponsor Spotlight:

Thank you to presenting sponsors Tumlinson Electric and UA 286 Plumbers and Pipefitters for helping power another great event.

"Compete. Celebrate. Dance. Repeat. Join us at the McDade Watermelon Festival BBQ Cook-Off and be part of a Texas tradition!" 🍉🔥🎶