Smoke on the Water Barbecue and Music Festival

Stevan Stanisic
May 4, 2018
4 min read


Smoke on the Water Barbecue and Music Festival, 2018

Smoke on the Water was a classic rock song released in 1972 by the band Deep Purple. Smoke on the Water (SOW) is also the name for many barbecue festivals nationally, and one held annually in Fort Myers, FL. SOW in Southwest Florida is currently in it’s 5th year. It is hosted by the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center at the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin . As I had previously posted on local barbecue before, I thought a redo of this very basic barbecue primer was in order.

Nobody knows how grilled meats entered the food chain. Like coffee, anthropologists can only guess.The following is adapted from a posting of the history of barbecue from AmazingRibs.com, a site dedicated to all things grilled (by permission of the author).

Ancient man probably happened upon a cooked carcass after a forest fire and liked what they tasted. In good time, it was understood that meats tasted better held over or to the side of their cooking source. Eventually it was common practice for ancient societies to “spit roast”, or use meats suspended by wood racks above a heat source. This progressed to the Iron Age, where “gridirons” or the progenitors of grill “grates” were used in ancient Greece. It was eventually realized that smoked meats were an excellent method of preservation, like salting or drying. There have been other influences from Asia (Tandoor ovens) and Japan (Kamado urns), both ceramic cooking ovens heated by an open flame.

In the middle ages spit roasting was widely used in Europe, but the explorations of the “New World” by Spain really brought barbecue to the United States. The introduction of pigs into the “New World” in addition to Native Indian migration brought barbecue, originally called barbacoa through a misunderstanding of Native Indian language by the Spaniards, into North America. Further colonization by the Spanish and Indians brought barbecue into the Gulf States and the lower Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Migration up the Mississippi River brought this technology northward. Smoke houses and pit barbecues started to proliferate, the latter becoming a popular social gathering in the middle to late 19th century. For those interested in a more complete accounting of the history of barbecue, go Here.

SOW focuses on food and music. As for the former, there were about 5 or 6 barbecue vendors. We did not do our due diligence, and gauged our preferences on the length of the line at any particular vendor.There was a pretty good crowd towards the back entrance of SOW and we started there.

Crowd, Smoke on the Water

The first vendor we stopped at was Currie’s Smokin Hot BBQ.

Currie’s Smokin Hot BBQ

The rib tips looked intriguing. What are rib tips, and how does that differ from baby back ribs, St. Louis style ribs and spareribs? For a really good diagram illustrating this, go Here. They were good, meaty and it’s always fun gnawing around the cartilage on these.The line was very long at an adjacent vendor, Big Smoke BBQ and Catering. The menu looked good, so we thought we’d try a few things.

Menu, Big Smoke BBQ and Catering

We ordered ribs (St. Louis style) and a brisket dinner.


Brisket dinner, Big Smoke BBQ and Catering

The ribs were a bit dry in spots, and just OK. The sides, mac ‘n’ cheese and collard greens, were much better than the brisket, which was run of the mill. The collards were really well flavored, and some of the best I have had. If ordering from them again, I would definitely get more of the collards.There were other vendors there such as Skin and Bones BBQ, Jonesez BBQ, Deep Down South BBQ and Pig in or Pig Out, where you could purchase their famous “ribsicle” and eat them from their signature dining tables.

Ribsicles, Pig in or Pig Out BBQ

Signature dining table, Pig in or Pig out BBQ

Of the offerings we tried, the best was the BBQ sundae from Big Papa’s Country Kitchen.

Big Papa’s Country Kitchen

This was an extremely delicious 3 layer, 16 oz. serving of baked beans, cole slaw and pulled pork. Each of the components of this dish were excellent which synergized into this incredible flavor explosion. If you ever come across Big Papa’s, order this and you will be very happy.There was also a vendor selling a variety of very good looking roasted corn on the cob in addition to some very nice looking cup cakes from Tamu Cupcakery. Unfortunately they were mostly sold out by the time I got there.If you wanted an adult beverage, there was that opportunity as well. What goes better with BBQ than beer?

Bar tent, Smoke on the Water Barbecue and Music Festival

As some of the crowd sat eating all this food, they enjoyed listening to a number of bands including The Electric Mud, playing very retro rock and roll.

All in all it was a nice day out at SOW. I hope to see SOW evolve into something bigger and better, becoming a showcase for great food, music and family fun in Southwest Florida.Smoke on the Water Barbecue and Music Festival Website