REAL SMOKE BBQ win WBQA World Championship title at BBQ Festival in Stuttgart

The Stuttgart BBQ Festival, which was part of this year's Grill & BBQ World Championship, has come to a successful end. In keeping with the motto "You Never Grill Alone", more than 15,000 participants flocked to the open-air spectacle at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre, where, in addition to exciting competitions, an exhibition with all the well-known companies in the industry took place in the open air.

A touch of the Olympics blew over the outdoor area when, at the end of the first day of competition on Saturday evening, the participating teams marched in with their national flags and represented their nations. More than 100 teams from 23 countries fired up their grills for six different courses over the weekend and faced international competition with their high-quality products.

The German team REAL SMOKE BBQ with its team captain Adrain Peller became world champions. Another German team, Gogrillaz BarbieQ, took second place. We Love BBQ by BBQ Kitchen from Austria took third place.

Olympic feeling at the exhibition grounds
"We are delighted that we have attracted and inspired so many interested people with a very successful mixture of world championship and exhibition," said Andreas Wiesinger, member of the management of Messe Stuttgart. "The two days have shown that we have once again succeeded in creating great festival feelings in a relaxed atmosphere and at the same time reflecting the high quality of the industry." The trade fair has thus added another important building block to its food portfolio. Incidentally, gourmet fans do not have to wait too long and can already look forward to the premiere of "Food and Fine Food" as part of the Stuttgart trade fair autumn (21 to 24 November). In addition, "the BBQ Days will take place again next spring, where the Baden-Württemberg grill championship title will be at stake." Organized in partnership with the organizer of the Grill & BBQ World Championship, the German Barbecue Association (GBA) e. V., which organized the World Championship in cooperation with the world association WBQA. The partner, the exhibiting companies as well as the teams from all over the world and also the festival guests were extremely satisfied with the event and full of praise, said Wiesinger.

Gogrillaz BarbieQ came in 2nd place in the World Championship

Competition and meeting of the worldwide barbecue family
Rainer Wörner, Managing Director of the GBA, could only agree. "We set a world record with the event in terms of the number of participating teams and countries and the number of visitors." For this, he was awarded the WBQA Order of Honor on behalf of the entire organizing team. "The organization required an immense amount of effort beforehand, but it was worth it. Despite the tough competition between the teams, the solidarity between the teams is incredible. They always help each other when a grill breaks down or the opponent is missing an important accessory. All in all, a great, successful world championship where grill cultures from all over the world meet and exchange ideas. And at the same time, a top-class grill tournament with the flair of a big family reunion," said Wörner.

Exhibiting companies with great attractions
The approximately 100 exhibiting companies were very satisfied with the course of the BBQ festival. Empty meat and sausage counters, well-filled order books and full shopping bags of the festival visitors testified to good sales and guests keen to buy. The exhibiting companies had really put in the effort and provided attractions that appealed to the public. The "Dinner in the Sky" by Weber met with great demand and full seats at a height of 25 meters. Tim Burger, Managing Director of Allgrill, was delighted with a world record. With a length of around 33 meters and 45 gas grills, it easily beat the existing record from Switzerland. For a small fee, visitors could fry a bratwurst themselves on the "longest gas grill in the world". Allgrill and the GBA are donating all proceeds to a good cause. The German Hunting Association was also present at the fair and showed the audience how game is expertly butchered, true to the motto "From Nose to Tail". The ZUT Borniak barbecue club also explained the development of the recreational hit with the help of historical barbecues. T-shirts with the print "Born to Barbie-Q" or "Man with barbecue seeks woman with coal" were also in great demand. There's no doubt that the barbecue season can now begin.

Text: Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH