BBQ to feature at Teddy Bears Picnic

This year’s Teddy Bears Picnic will feature a little extra sizzle, with the World’s Biggest BBQ set to serve up 14,000 free sausages during the event.

Mercury Energy has created the World’s Biggest Gas BBQ for the Teddy Bears Picnic as a sizzling celebration of the culinary and cost benefits of cooking with gas. The BBQ is 60-foot long and will cook 48 sausages per minute, or 2880 an hour.

The Big BBQ will be a special feature at the 2008 Teddy Bears Picnic, which takes place at the Auckland Domain on Sunday, 2 March which is also “National Children’s Day”.

This year’s event again features a host of free family activities ranging from musicians to magicians, stage shows to strolling performers, fashion shows to fairy grottos.

The traditional popular activities such as the Cadburyland performance stage and 5m climbing wall, Fairy Clare’s Fairy Grotto, the JK’s Entertainment Stage, Ronald McDonald, Tip Top Popsicle Band, and the Classic Hits Teddy Bears Parade will again form part of this year’s festivities.

Much interest in the 2008 event will be on the “World’s Biggest Gas BBQ”. The BBQ is a whooping 60 foot long, nearly the same length as a tennis court. It has taken a team of nine builders over two weeks to assemble the BBQ. It features 96 gas burners, which are set to cook up 14,000 sausages during the event.

The World’s Biggest BBQ will be officially lit at 11am by The Mad Butcher, Peter Leitch. Various celebrities will be on the gas plate throughout the day, serving up the free sausages. These include league stars Stacey Jones & Jerry Seuseu, Auckland NPC coach Pat Lam, and Beijing bound Black Sticks Ben Collier, Kyle Pontifex & James Nation, and several stars from Shortland Street.

Richard De Luca, Mercury Energy’s Manager, Retail Operations say the company is looking forward to shouting Auckland lunch. De Luca said “Mercury Energy supplies reticulated gas to thousands of Auckland homes and we are excited about sharing a BBQ to demonstrate the benefits of cooking with gas.”

The World’s Biggest Gas BBQ will fire up at 11am, and run until the end of the Teddy Bears Picnic at 4pm. Festivities will include Mercury Energy’s Kindergarten BBQ Battle of the Burbs – a mystery cooking challenge where budding chefs can win $1,000 of play equipment for their local kindergarten.”

The 2008 Teddy Bears Picnic takes place at Auckland Domain on Sunday, 2 March from 11am – 4pm. Bring a picnic, the whole family, and your favourite bears. And, be sure to visit Mercury Energy’s World’s Biggest Gas BBQ to get a free sausage for you and your family.