Atta' Grill: Spring Valley BBQ Festival Returns on Sunday

After a successful inaugural event last October, organizers of the Spring Valley Barbecue Festival are planning for an even bigger and better community celebration this Sunday, Oct. 16.

Last year's first ever BBQ festival was an ambitious effort, and despite the rain, thousands still attended. But with more BBQ teams, more sponsorships, and more fundraising opportunities available, organizers hope the event will soon become a staple of every Spring Valley residents fall calendar.

"We love barbecue," Shawn Walchef, co-owner of told Mount Helix Patch. "A lot of our customers have talked about having some kind of barbecue day or some event that we can do locally in the community. "We always do events to help support youth sports, and so we started the event [last year] to kind of tie the two together."

Last year, Los Toros Bulls Football & Cheer, a local youth football organization, was the benefactor of the funds raised from the event. This year, the funds will be given to the Spring Valley Sports Council, which governs about 10 different sports leagues in the community, including Los Toros, AYSO soccer leagues, basketball leagues, and Little League baseball organizations. 

Tracie Egbert, president of Los Toros, said that the funds raised will be distributed among the local youth sports organizations that participate in the festival. The monies raised will be used to help fund scholarships for kids who otherwise might not be able to participate in sports leagues, and will be given a chance to do so.

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Last year, there were only about 10 amateur barbecue teams that competed, and most of those signed up in the final few days leading up to the event, according to Walchef. For this year, there are already more than 15 teams prepared to compete, including two teams from Los Toros.

The teams will be competing in different categories, offering up their best renditions of pork ribs, tri-tip, chicken, carne asada, and tailgate decorations. In addition, teams will be able to sell samples of their barbecue for $2 to festival guests.

The awards presentation will begin at 3:30 p.m. 1st place awards in each category will receive $100, 2nd place awards will receive $50, and 3rd place awards will receive $25. The carne asada category will have only a 1st place award. The grand champion will receive a $250 prize package.

In addition to the barbecue samples and the heavenly smells, guests will be able to watch live NFL games on several flat screen TVs at Cali Comfort (even though the Chargers are on a bye). Guests can also visit a beer garden, where they can try a variety of local craft beers. There are also two live music acts, which will be performing  throughout the day.

The music was coordinated by Spring Valley resident AJ Price, who along with his wife Deandra and son Christopher, help form the band ZZAJ.

Price, who plays the bass guitar, and his band played the BBQ festival last year, and is happy to be a part of it again.

"At first, I didn't know if anyone would be into the music we play, which is jazz, R&B, and funk," said Price. "But we were surprised at the number of people who came out last year in the rain. We've always worked with Shawn [Walchef] for community events, and whatever they want to do - we're game for that. We love to give what we can to the community. We know it comes back around."

The Mercury Street Blues band will also perform. There will be a DJ providing music throughout the rest of the event.

There will be additional food and non-food vendors, who will have their booths set up along Troy Street, which is being blocked off from Bancroft Drive to Central Avenue, for the event. But make no mistake, this event is about the 'cue, and raising money for youth sports.

Gene Goycochea, a legend in the world of professional barbecue, told Mount Helix Patch last month that he hopes the quality of the barbecue can lead to more exposure for Spring Valley, and for future festivals.

"Hopefully, this will turn into a barbecue destination soon, where people will come from out of town to eat barbecue," he said.

The event is free and occurs on Troy Street, in front of Cali Comfort. The street will be closed, but parking is available in the adjacent neighborhoods.

Sponsors of the event include: Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce, , Scentsy, and Best of Times bar.

If you are interested in any sponsorship opportunities, or in forming a barbecue team, email springvalleybbqfestival@gmail.com or call (619) 670-9902.

For more information, visit the Spring Valley BBQ Festival website, or on their Facebook page.