Remember last year when I told you all about
my experience as a barbecue judgeat the first (now apparently annual) Music City BBQ Festival? Well, the fest is back, and this year it's better than ever, including a chance for you to get a little taste of what it's like to be a judge.
The Second Annual Music City BBQ Festival will be held Aug. 26-28 at Riverfront Park. Over 400 volunteers will organize the event for the expected 25,000-plus porkophilic attendees. Thursday night is mainly set-up time for the more than 100 teams who will participate in this competition, sanctioned by Kansas City Barbeque Society and Memphis Barbecue Network. And these people know how to party. Since much of the cooking takes place overnight, if you're on a cook team or lucky enough to be one of their guests, prepare to enjoy cooking rigs equipped with full bars, pumping sound systems and even dance floors.
Friday and Saturday are judgment days as teams deliver their chicken, ribs, shoulders and briskets to certified judges as they compete in individual categories and for the Grand Championship. This year there will be a Peoples' Choice Award, to which you can contribute. On Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., festival attendees are invited to sample the same entrées and entries as the judges. People's Choice is a competition by all teams entered in the Music City BBQ Festival in which the general public are the judges. Each team is given a pork butt to cook and turn in on Saturday morning. The young Shriners will then process the meat and have it ready to serve to the public. Judging will take place from 10:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and the winner will be announced at the awards ceremony Saturday evening. $5 gets you five soupçons, and you may buy as many tastings as you'd like. Best of all, the proceeds go to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge and Camp Horizon.
