8th Annual
Southern Hot Wing
Contest & Festival

Saturday, April 17, 2010
(Rain date: April 18, 2010)

Mandatory Rules and Regulations

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 12th, 2010, 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 17, 2010. The festival will open to the public at 10am. The first band will start at 10:00 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 10:00am – 7:00pm.
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 $50 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 7:00pm. The area will be blocked off by security until then.
18. The contest will take place on South Main Street between G.E Patterson and Webster Street.
19. Southern Hot Wing Festival asks that teams donate 5 lbs. or more of cooked wings to the newly formed 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 $150.00. Checks should be made payable to: Eighth Annual Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival c/o Paul Gagliano, 51 N Tucker St., Mphs, TN 38104. Deadline for the application and fee submission is April 5, 2010. Note: Separate checks must be written for the entry fee and for the clean-up deposit (rule 14).
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 50 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 and garbage left 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 is allowed.
31. NO glass bottles, 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

There will be TWO official types of judging.

1. ON-SITE (in your cooking area).
2. BLIND JUDGING- will be conducted by the sampling of each team’s entry by four independent judges.Each team will be given one blind judging container and one cup with a lid for any optional sauce.

   You should completely fill your container with wings and sauce only. No garnish, celery, carrots, etc. will be allowed in container (for BLIND-Judging).

   You will should bring BLIND JUDGING samples to the judge’s area at 1:45pm.

3. ON-SITE JUDGING - Teams will be advised at check-in of the approximate time of their teams on-site judging.
4. ON-SITE Judging times will be assigned by order of entry.
5. ON-SITE Judging will begin at 2:00pm and will conclude no later than 4:00pm. Winners will be announced at approximately 5:00pm.
6. All teams must provide 12 wings for ON-SITE Judging.
7. Please provide a serving area for two judges, and a serving tray with 12 wings and wing sauce sample.
8. No other meats, breads, garnishes, or flowers, etc. are allowed ON serving tray.
9. However for ON-SITE Judging, entries may be presented with celery and carrots as a side. No other garnish is permitted.  (Just not on the tray).
10. If dipping sauces are presented with the wings i.e., bleu cheese, ranch, etc., the wings will be judged with the sauce.
11. Judges will stay in your area for no longer than 15 minutes.
12. Teams will be judged by two judges, one at a time.
13. Points will be awarded by the judges in the following manner:
1. Appearance/Presentation of entry 7-10 points
2. Tenderness/Texture 7-10 points
3. Sauce/Seasoning/Flavor 7-10 points
4. Overall Experience (tiebreaker) 1-10 in a decimal, i.e., 9.7or 8.5, etc.

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!

The Southern Hot Wing Committee - 2010