Five amateur backyard barbecue competitors will duke it out this Saturday, January 23 at downtown’s Independent Distillery at 30 South Arizona Avenue (Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market courtyard) to benefit Youth On Their Own, a local nonprofit dedicated to educating homeless teens.

The event, Grills Gone Wild VI, will feature barbecue samples, bourbon tastings, pulled pork, and chicken sandwiches. Competitors include Paul Edwards from local food blog Tucson Eats Dinner; Nova Home Loans’ (and reigning champ) Rich Hillman; Insight Homes’ Rodney Miller; Realtor Edward Moore; and John Lesko.

A number of local personalities will judge the contestants, including KOLD‘s Dan Marries, KIIM FM‘s Brett “Porkchop” Miller, Tucson Foodie‘s Adam Lehrman, Independent Distillery founder Donald Northrup, and event organizer and distillery partner Jobe Repola, who’s also the local branch manager of Movement Mortgage.

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“This all started in my backyard and has just grown,” said Repola. “I really look forward to being able to sample everybody’s ribs and all the little tidbits they put out, like Hillman’s tri-tip and Paul Edwards’ banana pudding. Lesko, who is new to the contest this year says he’s got a killer Texas brisket.”

General admission tickets for the event are $29 and include entry and a plate of food. VIP tickets are also available for $49 and include entry, a plate of food, two drinks, sampling of the contestant’s ribs and other items, as well as special seating near the grilling action. Tucson Foodie fans can receive ten percent off the ticket price by using the promo code “NBD.”

Repola says he’s happy to be able to give back with the event.

“The future of our society is today’s youth. The better job we do at educating our less advantaged, the better.”

For more information, including tickets, visit grillgonewildaz.com.