No Athens,TX Eggfest this year

loco_engr

sent a FB message to Texas Fresh Water Fisheries to ask them if they are hosting an Eggfest this year.
Their reply:
"No sir, we are not hosting Eggfest."  :-(

JohnInCarolina

Just an FYI that HQ actually maintains a list of upcoming Eggfests (at least the official ones) at this site:

https://biggreenegg.com/eggfests/

Langner91

If Texas Fresh Water Fisheries hosted an party, wouldn't it be a RoeFest, or CaviarFest? 

caliking

Bummer. The Athens Eggfest was unique. 

JohnInCarolina

JohnInCarolina said:

Just an FYI that HQ actually maintains a list of upcoming Eggfests (at least the official ones) at this site:

https://biggreenegg.com/eggfests/

Used to be that page would have over 20-30 fests listed.  Kind of amazing how these have dropped off.  I'm sure some of that is the pandemic, but I don't think it's the whole story.  

xfire_ATX

From the ATX Dealer
https://www.texaseggfest.com/pages/about

We are going to take this year off for the Texas Eggfest.

It has become increasingly difficult to provide the demo eggs and we have seen a drop in the number of teams. We are going to regroup and come up with a plan for future festivals.

Jstroke

I think you have several challenges. Getting the eggs is certainly one of them with the current production capacity of most manufacturers. If they can't produce enough for their dealers at full price, then dealers would be certainly reluctant to sell eggs below retail. Dealers may not have the staff to literally put on the festival. Most businesses are literally hammer down just trying to take care of current business. In regards to the teams not signing up, there is simply the reality of inflation. People are seeing the pinch in their own households as well as the increased cost of ingredients for the festival. 

Photo Egg

Jstroke said:

I think you have several challenges. Getting the eggs is certainly one of them with the current production capacity of most manufacturers. If they can't produce enough for their dealers at full price, then dealers would be certainly reluctant to sell eggs below retail. Dealers may not have the staff to literally put on the festival. Most businesses are literally hammer down just trying to take care of current business. In regards to the teams not signing up, there is simply the reality of inflation. People are seeing the pinch in their own households as well as the increased cost of ingredients for the festival. 

Eggfests have changed so much over the years. It used to be individuals, couples or maybe a couple friends doing demo cooks. It was more of a family, teaching, learning kind of thing. Now it’s power cooking hundred of samples for the masses of people, with larger cooking teams, many sponsored, competing for prizes. At some Eggfests, they even tell you how many samples they expect you to serve. For us, its just not what we want to participate in anymore.

SonVolt

JohnInCarolina said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Just an FYI that HQ actually maintains a list of upcoming Eggfests (at least the official ones) at this site:

https://biggreenegg.com/eggfests/

Used to be that page would have over 20-30 fests listed.  Kind of amazing how these have dropped off.  I'm sure some of that is the pandemic, but I don't think it's the whole story.  

Many of the Big Green Egg dealers around me have stopped being dealers, said they aren't selling like they used to. I think Pellet grills kinda took over. Not to mention the renewed interest in offsets & wood-fired cooking over the last 5 years. 

stlcharcoal

SonVolt said:

JohnInCarolina said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Just an FYI that HQ actually maintains a list of upcoming Eggfests (at least the official ones) at this site:

https://biggreenegg.com/eggfests/

Used to be that page would have over 20-30 fests listed.  Kind of amazing how these have dropped off.  I'm sure some of that is the pandemic, but I don't think it's the whole story.  

Many of the Big Green Egg dealers around me have stopped being dealers, said they aren't selling like they used to. I think Pellet grills kinda took over. Not to mention the renewed interest in offsets & wood-fired cooking over the last 5 years. 

That and Blackstone griddles.  Anybody that wanted a kamado, got one during summers of 2020-21 when time and money were plentiful.  Now that you can dine out again and money is tighter, why drop $1500+ on a kamado when all your friends are happy with their $500 wifi pellet smoker?  Everybody in the BBQ industry got a little lazy during those two years, and last year was a wake up call.  2023 is looking pretty fantastic for us already, but I expect to see this as a pivot or die year for a lot of other companies in the outdoor cooking world.

texaswig

From what I've heard the reason why they stopped doing Athen's egg fest is the fisheries were wanting to up price to the dealer. And it was too much. 

nolaegghead

SonVolt said:

JohnInCarolina said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Just an FYI that HQ actually maintains a list of upcoming Eggfests (at least the official ones) at this site:

https://biggreenegg.com/eggfests/

Used to be that page would have over 20-30 fests listed.  Kind of amazing how these have dropped off.  I'm sure some of that is the pandemic, but I don't think it's the whole story.  

Many of the Big Green Egg dealers around me have stopped being dealers, said they aren't selling like they used to. I think Pellet grills kinda took over. Not to mention the renewed interest in offsets & wood-fired cooking over the last 5 years. 

I would think if they're not selling then they would have the stock for the demo eggs and a real need to do more promotion.

But not everything makes sense on the surface.

The "rules" on who cooks how much of what are completely at the discretion of the hosts.

I think you are correct about the competition from pellet poopers and gravity smokers and the like.  People get progressively lazy and burning pellets is way more turnkey than screwing around with all the ceramics and loading lump.

Photo Egg

texaswig said:

From what I've heard the reason why they stopped doing Athen's egg fest is the fisheries were wanting to up price to the dealer. And it was too much. 

That would be a shame especially since all the money raised by selling taster tickets went back to the fisheries. 

MasterC

What is a taster ticket?

JohnInCarolina

MasterC said:

What is a taster ticket?

Just a ticket that lets you enter the fest and sample all the food people are cooking up on their Eggs.  

MasterC

Thanks John. 

WeberWho

It's been 6+ years since participating in a sponsored fest. The dealer sent out an email and said one free cook admission but anyone else attending will have to pay an entrance fee. I'm not confrontational guy but that irked me. I'm not going to spend $75-100+ in food and have them charge my wife an additional $30+ to help. I sent an email and let them know my thoughts on the situation. The dealer ended up dropping the additional fees. The dealer was good to cooks in the overall grand scheme of things. They gave every cook a $40 gift card and a goodie bag for helping them out. While they are fun, I enjoy the non-sponsored fests. Always a good group of people and you're not pushing someone else's product on your own dime.  

Ozzie_Isaac

The two premier events; Butt Blast and Brisket Camp, are not on the list?

GregW

There was an Eggfest in Birmingham AL years ago at the Birmingham Barons baseball stadium. If I recall, it was several hundred dollars to enter. It was too expensive to justify entering for most people.

Photo Egg

Ozzie_Isaac said:

The two premier events; Butt Blast and Brisket Camp, are not on the list?

The “List” will only show BGE/Dealer sponsored events. 

caliking

GregW said:

There was an Eggfest in Birmingham AL years ago at the Birmingham Barons baseball stadium. If I recall, it was several hundred dollars to enter. It was too expensive to justify entering for most people.

That's ridiculous. 

I maybe understand why they want to charge cooks/teams... because of all of the TT/IG/YT influencer type folks who are in it for the $$ in a big way. Way back when, folks cooking at an Eggfest were in it for the love of the game.

I know I sound like an old fart saying that, but "way back when" was barely 5 years ago.

alaskanassasin

Were the pellet pooper guys every really in the market for a kamado? Most pellet guys I know think a bge is way to much time and work.

JohnInCarolina

alaskanassasin said:

Were the pellet pooper guys every really in the market for a kamado? Most pellet guys I know think a bge is way to much time and work.

Effing millenials man.

alaskanassasin

They are both in their late 40s

dbCooper

JohnInCarolina said:

alaskanassasin said:

Were the pellet pooper guys every really in the market for a kamado? Most pellet guys I know think a bge is way to much time and work.

Effing millenials man.

Just let them fade away, place your hope with Gen-Z.  Most all the folks I know in the Birds Aren't Real movement burn charcoal.

JohnInCarolina

alaskanassasin said:

They are both in their late 40s

It was just a joke.  Not a very good one, apparently, but they can’t all be home runs.  

caliking

alaskanassasin said:

Were the pellet pooper guys every really in the market for a kamado? Most pellet guys I know think a bge is way to much time and work.

 More buyers wanted pellet poopers, so sellers changed tack. Those buyers may have never   considered a kamado grill for various reasons, and sellers only have so much floor space.