Smoke on the Water will add a new feature to this weekend’s annual barbecue festival: a drive-thru barbecue stand for those who need to get their pork in a hurry.

The drive thru, set up at the corner of Gladden and Main streets in Washington, will have both sandwiches and bulk barbecue available. Those looking for chili from the chili cook off will have to make their way down to the waterfront, however.

The drive thru came about when SOTW committee members heard there was a potential conflict between barbecue-lovers and football-lovers and decided to make things easy for them.

“Because of the ECU (East Carolina University) home game beginning at noon, we know that a lot of people may be heading out of town earlier than was anticipated, so we have set up a barbecue stand near the red caboose at the arts council, so you can pick up North Carolina’s finest barbecue for your tailgating party,” said Pam Anderson, Washington Noon Rotary member and longtime SOTW organizer.

Anderson said the decision to create a drive thru was just an extension of rotary’s service-oriented priorities — money raised through Smoke on the Water goes back to the greater community through donations to a wide assortment of nonprofits and scholarships for local grads on their way to college.

Rotarians are counting on the crowds to help fund their community support and take home some of the barbecue from the 22 pigs registered in the competition, along with homemade chili entries in the chili cook off.

A new spin on this year’s chili contest is a literal blind taste test, courtesy of sponsorship by The Blind Center of North Carolina. The three chili judges—the Daily News’ Mike Voss, WRNS FM’s Carletta Blake, and a mystery judge to be announced at the event—will be tasting chili samples while blindfolded.

Anderson said the chili and barbecue will be sold on the waterfront until 4 p.m., but the barbecue drive thru will operate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For a more comprehensive look at the weekend’s events, see the Smoke on the Water insert in today’s paper.