Think you’ve got what it takes to burn the barbecue competition?

At least a handful of local ‘cuers do.

On Saturday the grill skills of a group of local residents will be on display at the 7th annual Lathrop Barbecue Competition at Valverde Park – a day-long festival of all things beef, pork and chicken.

The event, which runs on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 1 to 8 p.m., will feature local barbecue participants as well as 10 food vendor booths offering everything from barbecue to Kona ice. Local bands Zephyr and Time Frame will perform to cap off the night, and residents and visitors will once again have a chance to try their hand at one of three eating contests – tacking pizza, ice cream or hot dogs.

“A lot of the people use this event as a springboard for other competitions,” said Lathrop Senior Center Director Chris Lawrence, who was one of the founders of the event. “It’s a really good family event and people really seem to enjoy it.”

The event is sponsored by River Islands, Simplot, CBC Steel Buildings, Dickie’s BBQ, Ghirardelli, Republic Services, Diamond Pet Foods, Save Mart, Walgreens, USA Motors, GK Music and the Senior Advisory Commission and the City of Lathrop.

Crystal Creamery will be sponsoring the ice cream eating contest while Milan’s Pizza will host the pizza eating competition. The senior advisory commission will be in charge of seeing who can down the most hot dogs in the shortest amount of time.

Those events will be spaced out throughout the day and those wishing to participate are urged to sign up immediately upon arrival. Zephyr will take the stage at 6 p.m. and Time Frame will follow at 7 p.m. Other music will be presented throughout the day.

Admission is free.