(Seguin) — A competitive barbecue community will gather in Seguin this weekend to honor the memory of Ty Machado, a talented young pit master.
The first ever Ty Machado BBQ Memorial is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24, at Max Starcke Park East.
Ty, a 24-year-old 2020 graduate of Navarro High School, died May 24, 2026. He is remembered for multiple world championship titles. He also appeared on the Food Network and established himself as one of the country’s best young barbecue competitors.
Ty’s father, Joey Machado, says the family wanted to find a way to honor his life by continuing the work that meant so much to him.
“After we lost Ty, our main thing was to continue to remember him, and we thought, you know, what a better way to remember him by what he did and what everyone knew him for, and that was competition barbecue,” said Machado. “We just decided this was kind of the best way to pay tribute to him in his memory and bring all of, what we call our barbecue family, together in order to celebrate his life.”
Proceeds from the memorial will support youth barbecue programs.
Machado says the goal is to give the next generation of cooks some of the same opportunities that helped shape Ty’s own journey.
“Our program is basically going to help those kids continue to participate, help them learn, help them expand more on what they’re doing right now, because that’s the whole reason that we are where we are today is because of our involvement in barbecue and the barbecue life,” said Machado.
The weekend will feature a variety of competitions, including a four-meat barbecue cookoff sanctioned by the Champions Barbecue Alliance, a steak cookoff, a dessert challenge, a kids’ competition and a Tito’s Handmade Vodka cocktail challenge.
Friday’s events will focus on the steak and cocktail competitions, while Saturday will feature the main barbecue cookoff plus kids’ competition and dessert challenge.
Machado says he’s especially proud to announce that this first ever event will award qualifying opportunities for several major competitions, including two spots for the BBQ World Cup and Expo, three for the World Food Championships and two for the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
Now, while experienced competitors are expected to travel to Seguin, Machado says the memorial is also designed to welcome newcomers who want to try their hand at competitive cooking.
“We have the steak and the drink (competition)on Friday night. If somebody says, ‘Hey, I’ve got a great dessert,’ come on out Saturday — we’re going to have the dessert (contest) on Saturday, and then we also have the Kids’ Q,” said Machado.
The public is invited to attend the event at Max Starcke Park East. Folks are encouraged to stop by and watch the cooks in action or even signup to be a judge. They can also show their support by biding on auction items or buying a raffle ticket.
To learn more, visit the Ty Machado BBQ Memorial Facebook page or go online to tymachadobbqmemorial.com.
To host the bbq event, the park’s east side will be closed to the public both Friday and Saturday. This includes walking trail, disc golf and picnic areas.