Past Barn Burner Events

The Barn Burner has deep roots in the Fraser Valley. It began as a KCBS-sanctioned barbecue competition at Heritage Park in Chilliwack, and found its home at our farm in 2015 — drawing teams of pitmasters who competed under Kansas City Barbeque Society rules for cash, prizes, and bragging rights, all while raising tens of thousands of dollars for a great local cause. What started as a spring Sunday event grew into a summer highlight as we earned better dates year after year. When the pandemic hit pause on the competition circuit, we took it as a chance to try something new — and in 2023 the Barn Burner came roaring back, reimagined as the Saturday Car Show & BBQ you know today.

In its competition years, the Barn Burner drew around twenty teams from across BC, Washington, Oregon, Alberta and Saskatchewan to cook under KCBS rules. The Grand Champion took home $5,000, the Barn Burner trophy, and points toward a coveted berth at the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational in Tennessee. A crowd-favourite Black Box round challenged teams to turn a set of mystery ingredients into a single dish, judged by local personalities — including the Mayor and our MLA. Proceeds went to The Full Cupboard, the local food-bank fundraiser.

COVID-19 put the competition on hold in 2020, and as the barbecue-competition scene was slow to fire back up over the next couple of seasons, we saw a chance to try something new. That spark became the reinvention of the Barn Burner — and in 2023 it came roaring back as a Car Show & BBQ, a bigger celebration for the whole community.