HOUSTON — It’s finally rodeo season in Houston, Texas.
This Friday, thousands of people made their way out to NRG Park for The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Among the crowds, hundreds went straight to the "World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest".
Robbie Smith is the chief cook of The Brazos County Go Texan Cook-off team.
Smith said he's got a story into how he started grilling with the organization 4 years ago.
“I just love cooking and one of my friends said, 'Hey, we are trying to go a different direction now, would y’all like to get involved?' Smith said.
"We all jumped in head-first with something we really wanted to do.”
Nick Hickson is one of the many cooks ready for the day and he said feeding this many people all night long takes a real team.
“I’ve been on this team for a few years – there are about 5 of us who primarily cook and there are about 20 on the team total – it’s a whole group effort,” Hickson said.
The proud cook said one of the challenges for a cookoff this huge has been the overall planning stages.
“This is our third trip down this week to Houston to set up," Hickson said.
"We started prepping a couple weeks ago, and now we've just been cooking from the time we get here, and we'll continue until the time we leave.”
From the grill, to where it all started, Scott Catalena’s father Sammy and uncle Pete founded the area Go Texan Committee and said it’s an honor to continue the tradition.
“It’s a real legacy," Scott Catalina said.
"That’s beyond just our name, there’s going to be a lot more father-son, mother-daughters passing [carrying this on]."
Jason Wilbanks is one of the board members of the committee.
Wilbanks said he wants this BBQ party in Houston to turn into a celebration for Brazos Valley-area students.
“It’s all about raising scholarship money for the kids, and of course, we just love doing it – we put a real party on."
To learn more about the Brazos Valley Go Texan committee, click here.
To learn how to apply for their scholarship, click here.