LIVINGSTON — The sixth annual Sucarnochee Folklife Festival and the second Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned BBQ & Blues Cookoff, sponsored by the University of West Alabama, will be held April 17 and 18.

The weekend begins with music, food and fun at the BBQ & Blues Cookoff on Friday at 5 p.m. at the UWA intramural fields.

Visitors can pick the perfect pork, smoked by teams from across the Southeast, in the People’s Choice pulled pork competition.

“Barbecue is a part of the traditional folkways of this area, and we are excited that the second annual BBQ & Blues Cookoff, sanctioned by KCBS, will give our region’s great cooks the opportunity to showcase their talents on a larger stage,” said Dr. Tina N. Jones, UWA’s Center for the Study of the Black Belt executive director.

The second leg of the prestigious Alabama Championship BBQ Trail, the cookoff will feature an $8,000 payout in three divisions. Professional teams will vie in four tasty categories: pork, ribs, chicken and brisket. Backyard teams, comprised mostly of local amateurs, will compete with ribs and chicken entries, and young cookers contend in the kids’ chicken competition.