For the seventh consecutive year, Maryland-based Giant Food was the title sponsor of the 30th annual Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle.
After taking place virtually for the past two years, the event returned in-person June 25-26 in Washington, D.C., and benefited the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore.
The two-day event along Pennsylvania and Constitution avenues, between 3rd and 7th streets, featured barbecue and grilled food samples, more than 30 bands performing across three stages, celebrity chefs, cookbook authors and local professional sports player appearances, microbrew, wine sampling and cooking competitions.
The Taste of Giant Sampling Pavilion and Giant Local Flavors tent offered a wide variety of free barbecue samples and wine and microbrew offerings were available for sampling in the Giant Corks to Caps tent.
Attendees could also learn from the best barbecue celebrity TV chefs and pitmasters such as Myron Mixon and Tuffy Stone. The Giant Kidz Zone featured fun for the whole family, including free rides, games and sampling.
Giant’s team of nutritionists teamed up with Dole, sharing healthy eating tips and sampling Dole products at the Giant Healthy Living tent. Giant’s pharmacists offered free health screenings and distributed health and wellness products at the Giant Health & Wellness tent.
Musical artists – American Authors, Trevor Daniel, Nighthawks, Laine Hardy, Vertical Horizon, The Chuck Brown Band and Sam Grow – performed across the three stages throughout the weekend.
Through its sponsorship of the event since 2016, Giant Food has raised money for its beneficiaries, including more than $1.25 million for USO-Metro in 2021 alone.
“By putting full support behind their annual in-store Round Up campaign and the Barbecue Battle, Giant has set the gold standard for actions, not words,” said Lisa Marie Riggins, executive director of the USO National Capital District.
“Thanks to Giant’s unwavering commitment to our men and women who serve, the USO has maintained troop – support without interruption. This partnership has been critical to our success.”
For more information, visit giantfood.com.
To read the full Hall of Fame and Retailer of the Year section presented by The Shelby Report, click here.
