The words of Ann Westmoreland’s father rang true as she began planning this year’s Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown.

“My daddy would always say, ‘Folks are as serious as a heart attack about barbecue,’” Westmoreland said. “This has turned into a big event with some serious competition.”

The annual barbecue cooking contest will take place Saturday, Sept. 27 in Vidalia and will pit more than 30 teams from across the country competing in five categories: chicken, pork butt, pork ribs, beef brisket and sauce.

Teams will have an entire day to marinate, season, smoke and cook their barbecue to perfection before volunteer judges evaluate the final product in a double-blind taste test.

The meticulous and extensive method of judging barbecue is necessary, Westmoreland said, when you’re dealing with a Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned event and thousands of dollars in prize money.

The KCBS sports more than 15,000 members worldwide and sanctions more than 400 barbecue contests across the country.

In this contest, the grand champion will take home $2,550, followed by a reserve champion and a third place.

The four meat categories will have their own first- through fifth- place categories and prize money, while the sauce category has a $500 winner-take-all prize.

The contest is also classified as a Louisiana State Championship, which means the grand champion will get an invite to the American Royal World Series of Barbecue and have the chance to compete in the Jack Daniels cook-off in Lynchburg, Tenn.

Apart from the large prizes and bragging rights for the teams, Westmoreland said the event would also bring in much more for the City of Vidalia.

“We have all these people from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and other places coming to cook, plus the 40 judges who come in for the event,” Westmoreland said. “All these people are going to be eating, staying here and spending their money here in town, which is great for the city and really the area.”

Vidalia administrative assistant Glen McGlothin, who works with planning the event, said the throwdown is a great thing for the Miss-Lou.

“This event is helping put us on the map,” McGlothin said. “This is a passion for these folks, and they take it very seriously. Just like some people have a passion for hunting or cars, barbecue is their passion, and they come from all over to be a part of this thing.”

But the BBQ Throwdown is just one part of the Jim Bowie Festival, which takes place Sept. 26 and 27 at the Vidalia Riverfront near Riverview RV Park.

Friday’s events begin at 4 p.m. and include live music from Mojo Mudd and Easy Eddie & The Partyrockers.

Saturday’s events, which begin at 10 a.m., include more live entertainment from Lil Poochie & Hezekiah, food, a children’s petting zoo and a re-enactment of the Jim Bowie knife fight.

Tickets for the events Friday and Saturday are $5 for adults 13 and up, while children ages 12 and under get in for free.

One of the many food vendors on site will include Vidalia’s Feed the Hungry, which provides boxes of food to local residents who fall below the federal poverty guidelines.

The throwdown was selected by the KCBS out of more than 425 events nationwide to be a part of its national barbecue donation effort. KCBS committed to purchasing one pork butt for each team that signed up for the Vidalia event.

Sandra Vanier, who operates the Vidalia Feed the Hungry, said she was thrilled to hear of the organization’s commitment and decided to sell pulled pork sandwiches at the event.

“We decided that we could use the money we get from selling the sandwiches more than the actual meat, so we’re going to get our booth going and hoping to make a good bit of profit to help the organization,” Vanier said. “I’m just so excited that Feed the Hungry was chosen, because we’re one of the few places around here that delivers meals to people, and there’s always someone in need we can help.”

Vanier said she hopes to sell as many barbecue sandwiches as possible using the donated pork with the plan of using all the money raised for repairs to the organization’s building and truck.

“We’ve had so many people offer to help volunteer or do whatever they can to help, so this has really been great for us,” Vanier said. “It’s exactly what we needed.”

For more information on the BBQ Throwdown or the festival, contact the Concordia Chamber of Commerce at 318-336-8223.