UP IN SMOKE: Kosher BBQ Festival is Back

Good news! The Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival is back … even though, technically, it never left.

This year’s festival is set for 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 9, at Brook Run Park. Admission is free and open to the entire community.

The Atlanta Jewish Life Foundation has assumed administrative duties from the Hebrew Order of David, which has organized the festival for the last 11 years since the event’s inception. Jacqueline Morris, events director for Atlanta Jewish Times, will manage operations for the festival going forward.

Morris is no stranger to the Kosher BBQ Festival.

“The last two years of the festival, I hosted a cookoff team,” Morris said. “Unlike other teams, we were not sponsored through an organization, we were just young adults having fun. Last year, I wasn’t even living in Georgia at the time, but I flew in to host a team.”

Morris added that the Kosher BBQ Festival is one of her favorite Jewish-themed festivals because “you are free to be out and Jewish, you feel safe. Even after Oct. 7, we all felt safe.”

Jody Pollack, the festival’s previous executive director, organized the event for more than a decade and, after last year’s festival, he decided he was ready to pass the torch.

“I had to do a lot of soul searching before stepping down. For the past 10-plus years, this has been an integral part of who I was, and I am now in a phase of my life where I need to refocus my efforts and priorities,” he said in an interview last fall.

As with previous iterations, this year’s festival will feature the BBQ competition including best chili, brisket, chicken and beef ribs categories, BBQ tasting, team contests, kids’ zone, community expo, live music, and a silent auction.

“The Kosher BBQ Festival is the only standard Jewish festival in Atlanta that hosts 4,000 people, from Orthodox to Reform and even non-Jews who are just supportive on us being who we are.”

And we are, collectively, Jews who love a good BBQ.

Team and vendor registration are now open. To register, please visit www.TheAtlantaKosherBBQ.com, or email jacqueline@atlantajewishlifefoundation.com. For more info, please call 770-265-3803.

Brook Run Park is located at 4770 North Peachtree Road in Dunwoody.