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The 17th annual Uniquely Union Barbeque Festival is slated for this weekend, and cooking teams are preparing for the big competition.

On Friday and Saturday, the Union County Fairgrounds will be buzzing with everything from live music and entertainment to vendors and crafters to a beauty pageant to pro wrestling and more, but the centerpiece of the festival, as always, is the annual barbecue competition.

This year’s competition will be sanctioned by the Southern BBQ Network (SBN) and feature teams with names such as “Pigs In Heat,” “Smoke In Yo Eye,” “Pig Pickin’ Preacher,” and “Slap Yo Mama.” Although some of the team names may seem silly, the competition itself — as well as the chance to win bragging rights and a $1,500 Grand Champion prize — is serious business to cookers.

Main competition categories include pork and chicken. Teams must submit to be scored for the Grand Champion award. Teams’ $140 entry fee will include four Boston Butts provided by the festival — for competition and Tasters’ Choice — while chicken will be provided by the teams.

The competition will also include an optional pork ribs category. Prizes will only be awarded for first and second place, and scores will not be factored into judging for Grand Champion. Prize money will equal the entry fee multiplied by the number of teams that participate.

Other competition categories include Anything Butt — savory and Anything Butt — dessert. These categories allow grill masters to showcase dishes — such as “drunk chicken” or cobbler cooked in a Dutch oven — that don’t fall under any other competition category.

Award payouts are as follows:

Grand Champion — $1,500

Reserve Grand Champion — $600

Pork

• 1st Place — $400
• 2nd Place — $300
• 3rd Place — $200
• 4th Place — $150
• 5th Place — $100

Chicken

• 1st Place — $400
• 2nd Place — $300
• 3rd Place — $200
• 4th Place — $150
• 5th Place — $100

Anything Butt

• Savory — $200
• Dessert — $200
• Tasters’ Choice — $200

A cooks’ meeting will take place on Friday at 5:15 p.m., and judging will begin on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Prizes will be awarded at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Last year’s Grand Champion team — “On the Spot” — will return this year to try and reclaim the title a second time.

On the Spot is captained by Ronnie Bishop of Greenwood, who is active in the world of competition barbecuing. Bishop is featured in a video posted last week at www.bbqsuperstars.com, which shows him preparing meat before he places it on the smoker. Although he does not reveal very much about his techniques, he mentions that he has found some advantages to the layering effects of multiple dry rubs.

Teams will travel from around the Carolinas and Georgia to compete in this weekend’s event.

“The name of the festival is UniQuely Union,” said local restaurant owner, roasted pork specialist and festival committee member David “Tubo” Owens. “This might be biased, but I’d like to see someone from Union win it.”

For more information about the barbeque competition, call David “Tubo” Owens at (864) 426-2174, Kevin “Monk” Montgomery at (864) 426-7303 or Debbie Woodard at (864) 429-1700.

Find more details about the 17th annual Uniquely Union Festival at www.uniquelyunion.com.