Saturday, April 21, 2012
11am – 6pm
(Rain date: April 22, 2012)

Mandatory Rules and Regulations

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1. A Hot Wing is defined as any piece of the wing: drummie or flat or a full wing; drummie, flat and flap, cooked, flavored and seasoned.
2. The wings for contest entry may not be pre-cooked, sauced or maintained in any way prior to inspection at the beginning of the cooking contest. Use of anything pre-cooked will result in disqualification.
3. Each contest competing shall supply all of this meat, cooking ingredients, individual cooking devices (propane or charcoal) utensils, preparation tables, etc.
4. The only thing provided to contestants by the Southern Hot Wings contest is a regulation cooking area
5. There is a MANDATORY COOKS MEETING Monday, April 16th, 2011, at 6:00 pm at Earnestine and Hazel’s, 531 S. Main (at G.E. Patterson).
6. Each contestant may have as many assistants as necessary. Any cook or assistant that handles food in any way must comply with MUST be at the Mandatory Cooks Meeting..
7. Each contestant must comply with all applicable rules and regulations of the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department including, but not limited to the following:
• a. Meat must be at 35° F or less before cooking. Coolers with plenty of ice will keep it cold enough.
• b. After cooking the wings, they should be placed in a covered container and maintained at a safe temperature until submitted to the judges.
• c. Cleanliness of the cook, assistants, and contestant area is required.
• d. NO live animals are allowed in the cooking area. This is grounds for disqualification.
• e. Each team MUST have hand cleaning capabilities. Soap and water or waterless hand cleaner is acceptable.
8. Setup will take place between 7:00-9:30am Saturday morning April 21, 2012. The festival will open to the public at 10:45am. The first band will start on the Mapco Stage at 11:00 am. The streets will not, and must not, have any vehicles present at this time in order to keep our pedestrians safe.
9. Live entertainment will be taking place during the festival from 11:00am – 6:00pm.
10. No live bands, or combos, etc., will be allowed in the individual cooking areas at any time during the event.
11. Each contestant must check-in upon arrival at judging headquarters. A contestant number and a cooking area will be assigned.
12. Restrooms will be available. Teams are allowed to provide their own port-a-potty.
13. Children may not be left unattended or unsupervised to roam the festival or its outlying areas.
14. Trash bags will be provided by each contestant. A dumpster for trash will be on-site. Contestants will be responsible for cleaning up their area after the contest. Trash MUST be placed in the dumpster, not next to it. A separate $100 refundable clean-up deposit is required. This will only be keep if your area is left unclean.
15. Teams must discard used oil from their cookers. The contest will not provide a receptacle for discard. DO NOT pour oil on the curb or in the street.
16. Vehicles will be allowed to “load-in” in the cooking areas between 7:00-9:30am on Saturday.
17. Vehicles will NOT be allowed back in the cooking areas after the contest for “load-out” until the last band has finished performing, approximately 6:00pm. The area will be blocked off by security until then.
18. The contest will take place on Riverside Drive between Jefferson and Monroe Streets.
19. Southern Hot Wing Festival asks that teams donate 5 lbs. or more of cooked wings to the Memphis Picks contest if they want their team to be judged by the public. The winning team will receive the Memphis Picks award. This is not mandatory.
20. The entry fee to the Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival is $250 for a 10′ x 10′ space and $350 for a 10′ x 20′ space plus the seperate $100 Clean-Up Deposit.
21. The Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival Committee reserves the right to reject any application. If your team’s application is not accepted, your fees will be refunded. No refunds of entry fees will be made once you have been accepted into the contest whether your team participates or not.
22. Space is guaranteed for the first 60 paid applications accepted by The Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival Committee.
23. It is the responsibility of each team to see that the contest area is cleaned and all equipment removed from the site following the contest. Any space left in disarray or with loose trash or garbage in their area after clean-up will forfeit their $50 deposit and may be disqualified from any future Southern Hot Wings Contests.
24. The team’s captain will be held responsible for the conduct of his team and his guests. Under NO circumstances are alcoholic beverages to be distributed (given away or sold) to the general public by the teams or its contestants. The Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival Committee requests and requires that good taste be used with team conduct during the contest.
25. Team areas will be assigned closest to the stage by the order of receipt of paid entry.
26. TEAM BOOTHS MAY NOT BLOCK THE SIDEWALKS IN ANY WAY. This area is designated for all emergency, fire, police, and ambulance personnel.
27. Each team should provide their own bucket of sand for cigarette butt disposal within their individual team area.
28. Violations of rules and regulations of the contest will result in disqualification, expulsion, and/or disqualification from future participation in the festival.
29. Read and keep these rules of the Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival. If there are any questions or concerns immediately contact The Southern Hot Wings Contest & Festival for clarification.
30. NO throwing of frisbees, balls or any falling objects are allowed.
31. NO glass containers, only plastic and aluminum allowed inside the festival area, or in personal cooking area.
32. The Southern Hot Wing Contest and Festival will not be responsible for tents or other equipment left unattended before, during, or after the contest.
33. All teams must adhere to all electrical, fire, and other codes, by the city, county, state, and federal codes.  Each team must have a fire extinguisher of a 2A, 40bc rating. Please check and make sure they are charged. All tarps and tents must be fire retardant with certification stating so. The Memphis Hot Wings Contest cannot provide electrical power for your area.
34. Contestants may not sell food.
35. The Southern Hot Wing Contest and Festival reserves the right to make additional regulations as the situations warrants. Decisions of the Southern Hot Wing Contest and Festival Committee and Judges are FINAL.
36. Any questions regarding these rules and guidelines or judging rules should be addressed immediately to The Southern Hot Wing Festival and Contest Committee.
37. Teams must be available for the rain date as well.

Judging
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CHANGE FROM 2011

KCBS sanctioning allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved KCBS numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re-numbered by the KCBS Contest Rep or authorized personnel before being presented to the judges.

1. Judges may not fraternize with teams on turn-in day until conclusion of judging.
2. Judging will be done by a team of 6 persons, who are at least 16 years of age. Only Judges, Contest Reps and necessary support staff are allowed in judging area during the judging process. No other activities are permitted in the judging area, during judging process.
3. Each judge will first score all the samples for appearance of the meat. The turn-in containers will then be passed around the table and each judge will place a sample from each of the containers in the appropriate box on the judging mat. The judge will then score each entry for taste and tenderness, before moving on to the next entry.
4.  The scoring system is from 9 to 2, all whole numbers between two and nine may be used to score an entry. 9 excellent, 8 very good, 7 above average, 6 average, 5 below average, 4 poor, 3 bad, and 2 inedible.
5. A score of one (1) is a disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. Grounds for disqualification: All judges
   will give a one (1) in Appearance for unapproved garnish, pooled sauce or less than 6 samples of meat. All judges will give a one (1) in all criteria for sculptured meat, a marked turn-in container, foreign object in the container,
   incorrect meat. All judges not receiving a sample will give a one (1) in all criteria.
6. The weighting factors for the point system are as follows:  Appearance – 0.5714, Taste – 2.2858, Tenderness – 1.1428.
7. The low score will be thrown out. Results will be tallied. If there is a tie in one of the categories, it will be broken
   by the computer, as follows: The scores will be compared (counting all five judges) for the highest cumulative
   scores in taste, then tenderness, then appearance. If still tied, then the low score, which was thrown out, will be compared and the higher of the low scores will break the tie. If still tied, then a computer generated coin toss will
   be used.
8. Total points per entry will determine the champion within each meat category.
9. Cumulative points for only the four (4) KCBS categories will determine the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion except the Dodge City, KS contest, or at the election of this organizer.

pdf version

Prize Money and Trophies

A trophy or plaque will be presented to the team who wins the “Memphis Picks” Award.

Thank you for your cooperation and good luck!