Granite Shoals hosting High School BBQ Championship in April 2025
Dozens of high school barbecue teams from across Texas will converge on Granite Shoals in April 2025 for the High School BBQ state championship.
The city will host the event at Quarry Park, 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road, on a yet-to-be-determined date. Young Lone Star State pitmasters are currently competing in regional qualifiers to earn a spot in the finals.
Granite Shoals Fire Chief Tim Campbell and Police Chief John Ortis are passionate about barbecue, raising thousands of dollars for local charities with their food, and have been working to bring the championship to the city since at least 2019.
“Our goal is to continue to grow and put Granite Shoals on the map,” Ortis told DailyTrib.com. “Maybe this will motivate local schools to participate.”
The regional qualifier for the Highland Lakes region is Jan. 24-25 in Burnet at a site to be determined. An updated schedule can be found on the HSBBQ website.
The championship could draw hundreds of visitors to Granite Shoals as well as a wider national audience.
The 2023-24 event was turned into a TV reality series for the Magnolia Network, the creation of Texas house flippers Chip and Joanna Gaines. Another season of BBQ High has not been greenlit, but Granite Shoals will prepare for a 30-person film crew just in case.
“We are very excited about this,” Ortis said.
Ortis learned the ways of Texas-style barbecue from Cambpell and his four brothers when he joined the Granite Shoals Police Department 12 years ago. The Campbell siblings were highly competitive pitmasters, who won a state title in 2016 in a Lone Star Barbecue Society competition. They even have their own seasoning and sauce brand: 5C Smokehouse Sauces & Seasonings.
Campbell believes the championship could ignite a spark in the next generation.
“If we want to keep competition barbecuing going on, we need that next generation to take over,” he said.
According to Ortis, Granite Shoals secured the championship after High School BBQ President Chuck Schoenfeld attended the city’s first-ever Battle of the Badges Cook-off in June and was impressed with Quarry Park and how streamlined the event was.
The city is allowing HSBBQ to use the park for free, another draw for the organization.
Of course, the championship isn’t about locations or TV shows.
“For these kids, (barbecue) is their sport,” Ortis said. “They may not be in band, or football, or baseball, or track, but they’re getting up at 4 a.m. on a Saturday and meeting in the high school parking lot honing their skills. It’s just something (Chief Campbell and I) are both passionate about.”