Inaugural Moonbow Eggfest deemed a success

Corbin Firefighters Eric Philpot, Andrew Melton and Larry Jones enjoy some chicken wings cooked during Moonbow Eggfest, held in downtown Corbin Saturday.

The organizers of Corbin’s first ever “Eggfest” is calling the inaugural event a success, and added he believes it has converted a few curious patrons into “eggheads” themselves.

Enthusiasts of the odd-shaped, all-in-one cooking device known as “The Big Green Egg” filled the air in downtown Corbin with mouth-watering aroma this past Saturday during the Moonbow Eggfest, which took place from noon to 6:00 p.m. The event was located in a parking lot along Depot Street and featured cooks from around the area, as well as eight Egg chefs from surrounding areas like Knoxville, Cincinnati and Evansville, Ind.

“I can’t imagine a better downtown event for Corbin than the Eggfest,” said Moonbow Eggfest organizer Tim Barnes, President of Hometown Bank and a Big Green Egg devotee.

“We’ve had a wonderful group of people here today … I’ve asked all the cooks from out of town to give me some ideas about what we can do better and such. Everyone of them has committed to coming back.”

Barnes said over 250 people bought or received $15 tickets that entitled them to sample fare from each of the Big Green Egg chefs who participated in the event. Tastings continued throughout the day with many of the cooks offering different items at different times.

“I had somebody say to me they thought it was a little expensive to pay $15 just to get little bites of stuff. I tell everyone, if you don’t get full by the time you leave, call me and I’ll give you your money back,” Barnes said.

“I had a couple people come to me and say they had never eaten so much in their life.”

Popular food prepared on the eggs included all different sorts of beef, poultry and pork, pizza, deserts, smoked bologna sandwiches and even a special breakfast tart.

The event was coupled with the Corbin Color Run, a 5k race, and live music.

The Big Green Egg is an egg-shaped dome cooker that uses natural wood or charcoal as fuel. Its design allows it to be used for a variety of different cooking styles from grilling and smoking to baking and more. Barnes said that about nine of the devices were purchased Saturday as a result of the event.

He said he’s hoping to have live music throughout the event next year and, possibly, a volleyball tournament.

“Yeah, we are going to do it again,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m going to have to rest up for a day or two first.”