What started as a backyard BBQ in Dallas has grown into something nobody could have predicted.

This week on Smoke(less), Nick Pencis of Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q, Justin Fourton of Pecan Lodge, and Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue sit down with Alice Laussade, founder of Meat Fight, the brilliantly weird BBQ fundraiser that has now raised more than $4 million for the National MS Society.

Alice tells the story of how Meat Fight grew from a small backyard cookout into a full-blown annual event involving incredible BBQ, giant pig races, carnival games, Meat Bike, Meat Hike, Project 13 and plenty of wonderfully strange ideas along the way.

But behind all the madness is something much bigger. Alice’s brother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and Meat Fight has become a way of supporting people living with MS, from providing specially adapted bikes to helping fund MS research at UT Southwestern.

There’s also the small matter of a kidnapped glitter pig, ransom demands and one of the stranger ongoing mysteries in BBQ.

It’s a conversation about BBQ, family, community, doing good, and how something that started in a backyard can become far bigger than anyone ever intended.

The Backyard BBQ That Raised $4 Million | Alice Laussade