While barbecued whole hogs are the stars of Smoke on the Water, it takes a supporting cast to bring off one of Washington’s signature events.

The great majority of behind-the-scenes workers for the annual Smoke on the Water production are members of Washington Noon Rotary, organizer of the event, which began last night and concludes today on the Washington waterfront.

After all, someone has to order the pigs. Someone has to advise the pig cookers where to set up their cooking stations — some costing thousands of dollars and others costing tens of dollars. Someone has to find the judges for the barbecue contest, the showmanship contest for pig cookers who love to show off their cook sites and the chili-cooking contest. Someone has to book entertainers. Someone has to order the containers, beverage cups and cutlery needed to eat the barbecue, slaw and chili. Someone has to write the press releases about Smoke on the Water. Someone has to organize and recruit entries for the Parade of Pigs that helps kick off Smoke on the Water.

“Oh my gosh! This could not be done without the volunteers,” said Rotarian Pam Anderson, Smoke on the Water director, as she coordinated final preparations Friday afternoon. “I mean everybody who’s a member of Washington Noon Rotary is a volunteer. Nobody’s paid. The people are having the events out here are all local, nonprofit groups. So, they’re all volunteer, too.”

Festival events like the Eagle’s Wings “rubber” duck race and 5K race, the Beaufort County Development Center’s fire-engine pull, the Blind Center of North Carolina’s chili contest and the breakfast to be served today by the Beaufort Hyde Partnership for Children would not be possible without the nonprofit groups and their volunteers, Anderson said.

Some of the contestants in the chili contest are blind, Anderson noted.

The barbecue contest will be without Washington resident Arthur Williams, who won the North Carolina whole-hog barbecue championship, sponsored by the N.C. Pork Council, last month. Recently, Williams underwent minor surgery for skin cancer, said Rotarian Spencer Stanley, who’s in charge of the Smoke on the Water barbecue competition.

“We have 22 pigs being cooked, but two of them are not competing, so 20 competing,” Stanley said.

The pigs average about 115 pounds each, he noted.