Eggtoberfest 2012 Notes for the Future

booksw

Seems like a lot of people (including me) were sniffing around the forum in the days and weeks before Eggtoberfest trying to find information.  While it is fresh in my mind, I made some notes that might be handy for next year (might not!).  Please add things and correct the things I messed up

1.       Location: The Atlanta Motor Speedway is about 30 minutes south of Atlanta.  The Hampton Inn in Griffin is a good location.  There are 2 or 3 other hotels in the same area.  It is about 5-10  miles south of the Atlanta Motor Speedway.   Also, some people stayed at the race track in RVs.  That looked like it would be fun- not sure how to arrange it.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

2.       Timing: The ticket says Eggtoberfest on Saturday is from 9-5.  It starts at 9.  The eggs all get shut down at 3 (so that they are cool enough to take home at 5?).  The action started winding down before 3 but that may have been because they ran out of beer at about 1:30.  They ran out of all drinks at about 2:30.

 

3.       Swag: After you pick up your badge, you pick up your swag back. This year the swag included a set of 4 citronella candles in the shape of BGE, a half size cedar plank (set of two- I am not sure what to do with a half size one though- I guess cut my salmon up into two pieces), a full jar of Dizzy Pig rub (we had two swag bags so got two different varieties), a BGE ball point pen, a schedule of lectures/demonstrations, and drink tickets.  The bag itself was white with the BGE logo in green (of course). As you are entering, the swag bag pick up was on the left, then you go to the t-shirt give away on the right.  I didn’t notice the t-shirts when I got there in the morning and when I went back at noon they were out of smalls and mediums so I got a large that I hope shrinks.  The thing to do is probably pick up your swag and return it to the car.  Your badge gives you in and out privileges.

 

4.       Drink tickets: You get 5 tickets with admission.  Any drink (water, soft drink or beer) costs one ticket. I am not sure if you can buy extra tickets.  The longest lines at the festival were for drinks but the lines moved pretty quickly.  This year the beer sponsor was Heineken and they offered one variety of beer in a can.  Kroger was another sponsor and they supplied the soft drinks and water I am guessing.  Lots of people brought their own drinks.

 

5.      Demonstrations: There were scheduled demonstrations in the building at the back of the festival.  I went to part of one but it was hard to hear and I think they are all available in video format on the internet afterwards so I decided to not spend my time back there.

 

6.       The cooks: This was the best part!  There were 5 or 6 lanes of cooks and the cooks were generally in stations of several people.  Each station had several Eggs from which to work .  Many of the stations had signs in front of them that said the dishes they were serving and the general times they expected to serve each dish.  It sort of went: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert; each spaced apart by about an hour or 2.  There was a big variety of main ingredients.  I don’t think anyone made a smoked brisket though which disappointed me as that is my holy grail dish that stays just out of my grasp.  I have a great BBQ place within 5 miles of our house that offers brisket sliders for 50% off before 7 PM (Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ) and my goal is to make brisket at least as good as theirs but so far it hasn’t worked out that way.  There were a few professional cooks, with food trucks, but most of the stations were regular people with “day  jobs”.  I guess you would have to have started the brisket the day before or done a partial cook prior to coming so the logistics of it were too much.

 

7.       The race track:  There were race cars zooming around us on the track (the festival was in the “infield”).  It was pretty cool to just watch them.  You could definitely HEAR them and sometimes you had to repeat yourself to be heard after the car passed by.  We did not do this but we spoke to people who told us you could pay $10 to ride over 100 mph in a pace car (the line for that was pretty long).  Or, you could pay $100 to ride in a race car (there was a shorter line for that).

 

8.       Merchandise: There was a “store” where you could buy Eggsessories and Dizzy Pig products.  There was a sign at the store that said that Demo Eggs were still available.  I think it was about noon when I saw that sign.  The store took credit cards.

SmokeyPitt

Very useful info- thanks!  Just to clarify- you could roll in your own cooler with your own beer, right?  I would rather be sober than drink Heine-cans. 

vidalia1

books,

 

Great notes for sure. I will add a few thoughts.

1. The camping registration is on the page with the Eggtoberfest tickets when you sign up for Meet-n-greet ecetera. We have camped up there 2 years in a row and it is a blast.

2. Most of the cooks get going at 7AM so by 2-3PM we are beat. There will always be a few cooks who go to the very end. Yes you are right we usually breakfast items, a few entrees & desserts..I did cookies for 3 hours straight. It was fun

3. Yep get the swag & tshirts...take your tickets out & take it back to the car...if you are going to go to the store to buy something do that 1st thing then take that to the car also.

4. You can bring your own drinks (no bottles) and get them there as well.

5. Demos are good & on video.

6. Glad you enjoyed the cooks & food...that is why we sign up to cook...tons of fun..Long cooks like pork butts & briskets are hard to do at feasts. Even though our buddy brought his large BGE to the campground & did 4 butts for Saturday...I hope you got some as they were deeelicious.

7. Do the car rides Friday night at the M&G...less people.

8. Yep the store is open

9. Enjoy yourself...do not eat before arriving...pace yourself...there is a lot of food...

10. Approx 3000-3500 people including 250+ cooks...lots of room for everyone...

HAVE FUN!!!!

 

Lit

There were more than Heineken cans there was also Dos Equis and Amstel light

XLBalco

how were the port-o-john lines?  i assume they had to have a bunch..  long lines there?  clean?  hand sanitizers?

i would definitely have to search them out after a full day there.

BOWHUNR

I was there last year and there were no port-o-johns.  The restroom facilities in the garages were open.  Assume it was the same this year?

Mike 

solowinger

They had port-o-johns just past the BGE store close to the race track. No lines and they had a hand washing station adjacent to the johns.

booksw

There may have been port-o-johns but there were also full-fledged indoor bathrooms that were reasonably clean even at the end of the day.  The indoor bathrooms were in the back building (garage?) where the demonstrations were held and also in the front building (garage?) right where the swag was handed out.  There are plenty of trash cans and a fair number of recycling containers.  You do touch the trash can a lot (have to lift the lid to throw out your spoons, tasting cups, etc) so it probably makes sense to bring along some hand sanitizer.  We didn't- it didn't even occur to me- it should have.

Sorry we missed the Dos Equis. We didn't get beer until about 12:30 and by then it was all Heineken (and the big sponsor flags were of Heineken so I figured that was all she wrote).  I was pretty disappointed by that since I am a big fan of a local atlanta brew that used to be a sponsor (Sweetwater) and I was planning on that being the case this year.  We cracked open those Heineken cans, took a swig, and my husband said "reminds me of the old fraternity house!"  It was so much fun none-the-less.

The people I saw carrying bottled beers probably snuck them in.

Thanks Vidalia1 for the extra scoop!  I loved the food and getting to talk to all the cooks.  I can't wait until next year!!!

Another thing I was wondering- has it been that warm in past years?  I thought the heat may have been why they ran out of drinks early.

vidalia1

books,

Honestly the weather has been great all 3 years at AMS..prior to that there were a few rainy & cold Eggfests...we just hope it stays perfect like this past weekend....

 

And plenty of restrooms, sinks, showers even...and porto potties.... :+))

Hic

Great notes - speaking to the Brisket point. Brisket is a long cook and you would have to start Friday night. I don't think the cooks are allowed in until 7a.m. and honestly who wants to be up all ngiht when there are parties going on all around you?

Also remember to pace yourself. Lots of food and info. Also asks questions.

vidalia1

Hic,

Who were the folks on the infield campground who were whooping & hollering all night Friday night? Was it the Canadian Team??? Whoever it was they can sure yell...we heard up on the hill real well...LOL

 

Hic

We didn't camp this year, but I heard there was drama. I talked to those guys Saturday morning as we were setting up and they seemed low key.

vidalia1

Somebody was definetely howling at the moon Friday night...good thing that you guys didn't camp...LOL

cspearce2

All in all an awesome day. On complaint was earlier on the lines to check out at the store were rediculosly long.

justEGGit

Any tips for the camping experience?  We are planning to do that next year.  How was M&G?  Any activities that stood out on Friday night?

vidalia1

JustEggit,

There are 2 options for camping (unless they change it) at Eggtoberfest. The first is infield camping which is mostly for tent campers or motorhome or TT with generators. There are no amenities on the infield although there are bathroom facilities nearby.

The other option is full hookup on the back straight away of AMS at the Trackside Terrace campground. This is where we have camped the last 2 years and we love it. There are 61 + spots with full hook ups. This year there were 10 of our group (North GA Eggers) who brought campers. We partied and cooked at the end unit with lots of folks joining us.

Hope to see you next year.

The M & G is always fun as it is less crowded (they limit it to 500 folks) and you can get the tag for your BGE if you are cooking and locate your spot for cooking on Saturday...again this is good for us as our group tries to cook together if possible...