Applications for the 22nd Annual Christmas on the River barbeque cook off were mailed to contestants Saturday, giving last year’s cooks just more than one month to enter before the contest opens to new applicants.

Cook off organizer Jack Cooley said he already has 13 cook teams on stand by awaiting any vacancies.

“The way the contest works is we give the first right of entry or the first right of refusal to last year’s entrants,” he said. “This year, those teams have until Oct. 1 to notify me they are or are not coming before we open the remain spots to the public.”

This year’s cook off, which is an Alabama State Championship event sponsored by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, will be held Dec. 4, 5 and 6. The event will host 48 cook teams vying for $10,000 in winnings.