Mark Smith and his family attend the Maryland State BBQ Bash in Bel Air each year, and they are normally shoulder-to-shoulder with other music and barbecue lovers. They had plenty of breathing room this year, though, as searing heat appears to have kept many people away.
"We come every year, and it hasn't been crowded at all," Smith, a resident of Bel Air, said Saturday evening toward the end of the second day of the two-day festival.
"Usually when we come it's wall to wall," he said.
Smith attended Saturday with his wife, Alice, daughter, Brianna and Brianna's fiance, Dan Ditch, of Bel Air.
The 2016 BBQ Bash, which started late Friday afternoon, wrapped up Saturday in the parking lot of the Mary Risteau state office building at South Bond and Thomas Streets. Patrons, such as the Smith family, could sit at tables in the plaza in front of the District Court side of the building, which offered some shade from the heat.
Temperatures were in the 90s Saturday. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning earlier in the day as the heat index made conditions feel like about 110 degrees, according to the NWS website.
Harford County first responders handled two heat-related incidents at the BBQ Bash, according to the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association's public information page on Facebook. One person was taken to the hospital, and the other declined to go to the hospital.
A heat advisory will be in effect Sunday, as temperatures will be in the mid-90s and the heat index will be between 105 and 109 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The second day of BBQ Bash festivities started at noon Saturday, and much of the space between vendors remained wide open around 3:30 p.m.
The attendance between noon and 4 p.m. is typically light, and it picks up during the evening as the heat lessens, Christine McPherson, executive director of the Bel Air Downtown Alliance, said.
The Downtown Alliance is the main organizer of the Bash. It put on this year's event with support from multiple volunteers and major sponsors such as Visit Harford and MedStar Health.
"Everything really is on par, as it normally would be," McPherson said.
She said the inaugural Roll Out the Barrel bourbon-and-cigar event Friday night was well attended, and organizers expect to have it next year.
Lloyd Hess, of the multi-award winning Hess's Barbecue Catering of Lancaster County, Pa., said he has been a vendor since the BBQ Bash started in 2002. He praised the Bash but lamented the lack of people Saturday.
"It's just a really nice festival, it's one of our best," he said. "It would be again today, but the sun's so hot."
Jordan Joaquin and John Ogbin, both of Pennsville, N.J., made up the cook team of Reality Q. They were among more than 40 professional teams competing for the title of Grand Champion in the Maryland State BBQ Championship. More than 40 amateur teams competed separately in the Tailgate Challenge.
This year is the first time Ogbin and Joaquin competed in Bel Air and their first time competing overall – Joaquin noted they normally cook for friends and family.
"It's been hot, but it's a lot of fun, a lot of friendly people," Ogbin said. "I think it was good inauguration to the competition barbecue world."
Ogbin's wife, Charlie, and daughters Frankie and Phoebe waited for him near a cooling tent set up by the county's Department of Emergency Services.
"This is where we spent a lot of the day," Charlie Ogbin said.
She said the BBQ Bash was fun, despite the "terrible" heat.
"The food is good," she said. "It's nice, we'll definitely be back next year."
Visitors could purchase barbecued pork, chicken, ribs and brisket provided by vendors from the Mid-Atlantic area and the Southeast.
DeAnn Webb, of Abingdon, attended with her 12-year-old daughter, Nia. They both enjoyed ribs from a North Carolina vendor.
Webb noted she is from Charleston, S.C.
"I wanted a little taste of close to home," she said.
Nia said she enjoyed the ribs, along with French fries and barbecue sauce.
Patrons could also check out a number of non-food vendors in a separate area behind the Risteau building.
Members of Ravens Nest No. 1 of Harford County, a Baltimore Ravens fan club and community organization, operated a raffle for two Ravens season tickets..
Proceeds from the raffle go the Nest's Bud Bitzer Scholarship Fund, according to Dina Naff, an active member. She said attendance during the day had been light, but she expected more people would come by in the evening.
"We've had a healthy amount of people stop by that were interested in what we do," Naff said.
The top winners in the professional competition were Grand Champion Slaughterhouse Five, of De Soto, Kan., and Reserve Grand Champion Hawg Nation BBQ, of Phoenixville, Pa.
Slaughterhouse Five, which includes Jeff and Joy Stehney and Jason Brinkman, traveled the longest distance for the Bel Air competition.
The Stehneys own Joe's Kansas City BBQ, a restaurant in Kansas City, Kan., and Brinkman is a longtime employee and "pseudo family member," Jeff said.
They have been going to barbecue competitions around the country for 28 years, but this year was their first time at the Maryland State BBQ Bash.
Stehney having a competition in downtown Bel Air gives visitors a chance to check out the local restaurants to help occupy the down time while cooking.
"We're actually cooking in, I think, a quaint, interesting town that has a lot going on," he said.