General Rules and Event 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’ Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival and Contest is a regulation cooking area.
5. There is a MANDATORY COOKS MEETING Monday, September 24, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at The Walk of Fame Park.
6. Each contestant may have as many assistants as necessary. Any cook or assistant that handles food in any way MUST be at the Mandatory Cooks Meeting.
7. Each contestant must comply with all applicable rules and regulations of the Nashville and Davidson 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 contestants area is required.
   d) NO live animals are allowed in the cooking area. This is grounds for disqualifications.
   e) Each team MUST have hand cleaning capabilities. Soap and water or waterless hand cleaner is acceptable.
8. Setup will take place between 7:00-9:00 a.m. Saturday morning September 29, 2012. The ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival & Contest will open to the public at 10:45 a.m. The first band will start on the (TBA 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 11:00 a.m. 0 6:00 p.m.
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 in designated areas.
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 kept if your area is unclean.
15. Teams must discard used oil from their cookers at the designated receptacle that will be provided at the event.
16. No Vehicles will be allowed to “load-in” in the cooking areas.
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 6:00 p.m. The area will be blocked off by security until then.
18. The contest will take place in The Walk of Fame Park between 4th and 5th Streets.
19. ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival & Contest asks that teams donate 6lbs. or more of cooked wings to offer to the public for a donation.
20. The entry fee to the Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival is $100 for a 10’ x 10’ space. There is also a separate $100 Clean Up Deposit that must be paid at the same time as your entry fee.
21. The ‘Music City’ 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 15 paid applications accepted by The’ Music City’ 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 $100 deposit and may be disqualified from any future ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival and 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 or sold) to the general public by the teams or its contestants. The ‘Music City’ 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’ Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival. If there are any questions or concerns immediately contact The ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wings Contest & Festival for clarification at info@southernhotwingfestival.com.
30. NO throwing frisbees, balls or any falling objects is allowed.
31. NO glass containers, only plastic and aluminum allowed inside the festival area, or in personal cooking area.
32. The ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Contest & 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 must be fire retardant with certification stating so. The ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival & Contest cannot provide electrical power for your area.
34. Contestants may not sell food.
35. The’ Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival reserves the right to make additional regulations as the situations warrant. Decisions of the ‘Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Contest & Festival Committee and Judges are FINAL.
36. Any questions regarding these rules and guidelines or judging rules should be addressed immediately to the’ Music City’ Southern Hot Wing Festival & 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 under 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 (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.
6. The weighting factors for the point system area 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 score 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.

PRIZE MONEY AND TROPHIES

• $1,000.00 – Best Overall Hot Wings
• $ 250.00 – 2nd Place
• $ 100.00 – 3rd Place
• $ 100.00 – Best Presentation

A trophy or plaque will be presented to the team who collects the most donations and a Special Award presentation to take place at the closing of the festival

Thank you for your participation and good luck !