5 tips on how to survive BBQ festivals (plus top news & events)
We love all things barbecue, and as such, we greatly enjoy attending barbecue festivals around the country several times a year. Barbecue-focused events and festivals are a great chance to try lots of restaurants in one place and sometimes even give you the ability to meet pitmaster legends face-to-face. (See our full calendar of events if you want to attend any large barbecue events this year.)
Recently, we , where we spent three days in the hot sun trying high-quality barbecue. The event was one of the largest barbecue festivals we’d ever been to and it reminded us of how important it can be to go in prepared.
If you’re new to barbecue festivals or have only been to a few, there are some important things to keep in mind to help you manage your comfort and sanity in the face of large crowds and full stomachs.
The crowds and heat were intense at the recent Windy City Smokeout event in Chicago.
Pace Yourself
One of the biggest challenges when attending festivals is remembering to pace yourself. It’s easy to get overly excited about getting to try so much great food, particularly if it’s your first opportunity to try food from a particular restaurant or pitmaster. There is usually no need to rush, and you will be better off if you slow down and enjoy the experience. Whatever you do, don’t gather dozens of dishes from all of the vendors at the festival on your tray all at once. It’s better to eat one or two dishes at a time while they remain at their optimal temperature.
You Don't Have to Finish Everything
In addition to not rushing through a barbecue festival as quickly as possible, it’s also a good idea if you pay attention to how much you are eating. It’s okay to take a bite or two of a dish and then move on. You don’t need to feel obligated to eat the entire dish. It might seem wasteful, but taking even one or two bites at multiple vendors will quickly add up, especially if your goal is to try as many dishes as possible.
At the Windy City Smokeout, we got to hang out with John from The Salt Lick and Erin from Ubon’s Barbeque.
Take and Make Friends
If you do feel bad about not finishing everything, we’ve got a solution: bring friends or family to come eat with you. Since its earliest origins, barbecue has been a communal experience and today’s barbecue festivals are a good way to carry on those traditions. You can share your large and small bites with new friends you meet at the event. If you buy a large beef rib, for example, you’d likely be better off sharing that with a group than getting full on it by yourself.
Drink Water
This might sound obvious, but one of the most basic and important tips you can follow while you’re at a barbecue festival is to stay hydrated. Many of these festivals are held in warm temperatures and you need to drink lots of water to reduce fatigue and make walking around less exhausting. Drinking water also has the benefit of not being as filling as other drinks, ensuring that you can save more room for all the great food. We’re not against mixing in other drinks as well, as long as you’re still drinking water too.
We made friends with Renee and Nina at the Windy City Smokeout and shared some of our best bites and tips with them.
Dress for BBQ Success
If you’re going to spend a full day or more at a barbecue festival, part of the preparation is what you should wear. We would recommend light clothing that you don’t mind getting food on and bringing a hat too. If you can carry a light bag, we’d also recommend bringing hand wipes, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and a small towel or handkerchief that you can use for wiping off sweat or dirt while you’re at the event.
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For even more tips, check out this video we shot with Bryan Norton, host of the Tales from the Pits podcast, where he offers his advice and strategies for attending barbecue festivals.
Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist) and Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ)
Co-Founders, The Smoke Sheet
Here are the top recent barbecue news stories from around the country:
Heim Barbecue is one of the top barbecue joints making waves in Fort Worth.
The Fort Worth barbecue scene is booming. A new roundup from the Dallas Observer outlines some of the best barbecue joints in the area, including Heim Barbecue on the River, Joe Riscky’s Barbecue, Flores Barbecue, Panther City BBQ, and more. The Smoke Sheet’s Ryan Cooper will be visiting Fort Worth soon, so keep an eye out soon for more coverage.
Texas Monthly’s Daniel Vaughn recently visited CowBurners BBQ & Taproom in Mineola (roughly two hours west of Dallas) and reports that the barbecue tacos, rib candy, fried pork rinds, and craft beer make for a satisfying experience.
Our friend Kevin at Kevin’s BBQ Joints broke the recent news that popular Los Angeles pop-up Heritage Barbecue will be opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in San Juan Capistrano this year.
While Charlotte, North Carolina has been known as a middling barbecue town for a long time, that is changing with new and improved restaurants, including the just-opened Noble Smoke. The Charlotte Agenda rounds up the top five barbecue restaurants in Charlotte right now.
The popular Elgin, Texas barbecue joint Southside Market recently announced that they will be opening locations in Austin and Hutto.
The Houston Chronicle’s J.C. Reid writes that South Texas’ influence is showing up in craft barbecue in Central Texas and beyond, with barbacoa, beef cheeks, and more becoming important items on menus.
A group of investors has stepped forward to try to re-open the famed Wilber’s Barbecue in Goldsboro, North Carolina, which closed within the last year along with a number of other historic barbecue restaurants such as Allen & Son and Bill Ellis Barbecue.
The Independence Examiner recently caught up with Tyler Harp of Harp Barbecue to talk about his passion for and dedication to craft barbecue.
Finally, in a funny story this week, Canes Country (the blog for the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team) has started a March Madness-style tournament for North Carolina barbecue. During the next week or so, there will be voting every day to eventually determine the top barbecue restaurant in North Carolina. Keep an eye on the blog to vote in each round if you know your way around NC BBQ.
Here are BBQ shows, podcasts, or books you should check out this week:
Matt Johnson from Mill Scale Metalworks explains the process of building custom offset smokers to Katie Pickens on a recent episode of How to Make It.
Watch: How Custom Barbecue Smokers Are Made - How to Make It
On this episode of Eater’s web series How to Make It, host Katie Pickens visits Mill Scale Metalworks in Lockhart, Texas to learn how they build custom smokers for some of the biggest names in barbecue. Brothers Matt and Caleb Johnson demonstrate some of the processes used to manufacture their live fire cooking products. A bacon-wrapped whole alligator is cooked on a Mill Scale cross using post oak. Watch here.
Listen: Myron Mixon In-Depth Interview - The BBQ Central Show
Greg Rempe of The BBQ Central Show recently interviewed legendary pitmaster and barbecue personality Myron Mixon. During this great conversation, Mixon talks about his new book BBQ&A, his relationship with his father, new barbecue TV shows, and some of the most interesting trends happening in the barbecue world now. Listen to the episode here.
Read: Live Fire BBQ and Beyond - Wendy O’Neal
In Live Fire BBQ and Beyond, you’ll discover how to use an open flame for cooking delicious meat dishes, healthy vegetables, flavor-packed baked goods, and even sweet desserts. Filled with everything you need to become an open-flame aficionado, this handy how-to guide offers up tips, tricks and techniques for getting delicious flavor and perfectly-cooked meals and snacks using live fire cooking. Make your backyard your kitchen with crowd-pleasing recipes like 40 Clove Chicken, Cedar Plank Salmon, Smoky Cinnamon Rolls, Mustard BBQ Vegetable Skewers, and more. Order it here.
The 16th Annual Up In Smoke BBQ Bash takes place next weekend in Mason City, Iowa.
August 9: 16th Annual Up In Smoke BBQ Bash - Mason City, Iowa
The Up In Smoke BBQ Bash will feature a KCBS-sanctioned barbecue competition, an SCA steak cookoff, public food vendors, live music, an open darts tournament, and much more. More info here.
August 11: Meat Fight 1K - McKinney, Texas
Strike a pose, stuff your face, and shine bright like a meaty diamond. Do all this and more at this year’s Meat Fight 1K, a jam-packed event with more than 30 booths of barbecue, booze, beer, and sweets from Dallas’s most undeniably delicious restaurants. Buy tickets here.
August 17: Stumptown Beer Revival and BBQ Cook Off 2019 - Monte Rio, California
This event, which is also called the “Russian River Beer Revival & BBQ Cookoff,” features copious amounts of beer and barbecue. An entry fee includes beer, cider, and barbecue tastings for the duration of the day, along with live music and activities. More than 40 breweries and 30 barbecue teams will participate. More info here.
August 18: Turf & Surf BBQ State Championship 2019 - Del Mar, California
Enjoy unlimited BBQ, seafood, and desserts made by top chefs and BBQ competition teams during the annual #BETonBBQ championship on Aug. 18 in Del Mar, California. The Turf and Surf BBQ State Championship is a Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned event, and it will showcase some of the biggest names in the West Coast BBQ movement. Participating restaurants include Grande Ole BBQ y Asado, Cali Comfort BBQ, and International Smoke, a collaboration between culinary entrepreneur Ayesha Curry and Michelin Star Chef Michael Mina. More info here.
August 29-30: Sister Cities Smokeout - Moorhead, Minnesota
The Sister Cities Smokeout festival takes place on August 29-30 at Bluestem Meadow in Moorehead, Minnesota. This two day festival will include music from a variety of national and local artists, and award-winning pitmasters from Sugarfire Smokehouse, Ubon’s Barbeque, and Pappy’s Smokehouse will serve delicious mouth-watering barbecue. More info here.
September 6-8: Kentucky BBQ Festival - Danville, Kentucky
The Kentucky BBQ Festival will feature great food, live music, and a backyard barbecue competition. Top pitmasters that will be serving barbecue there include Leslie Roark, Amy and Mike Mills, Moe Cason, Carey Bringle, and Shelly Hunt. More info here.
September 7: Pig Island NYC - Brooklyn, New York
For those that love all things pork, the 10th annual Pig Island NYC in Brooklyn will be a can’t-miss affair. Held outdoors at beautiful Erie Basin Park in Red Hook, this all-inclusive event will feature great food from top Northeastern pitmasters, plus a ton of beer, cider, and liquor. More info here.
September 12-15: American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Kansas City, Missouri
The American Royal is celebrating 40 years of competition barbecue in 2019. On top of a huge KCBS competition with teams from around the country, this signature Kansas City event includes public-facing activities, including incredible live music, delicious BBQ and local food, a full line up of kids activities, and a vendor fair authentic to Kansas City and BBQ enthusiasts. More info here.
September 19-21: 2019 Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off - Murphysboro, Illinois
The Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off is a unique dual cook contest sanctioned by the Memphis Barbecue Network and the Kansas City Barbeque Society. The event will also include a steak cookoff and a bloody mary contest as well as a kids Que competition. More info here.
September 21: Smoked Dallas - Dallas, Texas
Join us for a Texas-sized food fest and backyard BBQ party in the heart of downtown Dallas at this event. Enjoy tastings from 20 of the most celebrated BBQ joints from all across Texas at the event, along with live music from Dale Watson, Straight Tequila Night, and The 40 Acre Mule. More info here.
September 27-29: Q In The Lou - St. Louis, Missouri
Get ready to go hog wild and get your BBQ fix at another great year of Q in the Lou. Many of the country’s biggest names in BBQ are back once again, including Peg Leg Porker, Ubons BBQ, The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint, Sugarfire Smokehouse, and more. There will also be live music all three days. More info here.
September 29: Houston BBQ Throwdown 2019 - Houston, Texas
The Houston Barbecue Festival and Saint Arnold Brewing Company will throw the 5th annual Houston BBQ Throwdown on Sunday, September 29. It will feature 14 of Houston's best barbecue restaurants competing to create the next great barbecue dish that represents Houston-style barbecue, including Daddy Duncan's BBQ (2018 Judge's and People's Choice winner), Eddie O's Texas BBQ, Harlem Road Texas BBQ, Reveille Barbecue Co, Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, and Victorian's Barbecue. More info here.
October 3-5: Firebox 3 BBQ On The Bluff Invitational - St. Simons Island, Georgia
The 3rd Annual BBQ on the Bluff Invitational takes place October 3-5, 2019 on St. Simons Island in Georgia. The festival is presented by Southern Soul BBQ and features some of the biggest names in barbecue from around the world. Proceeds benefit the Firebox Initiative. More info here.
October 5: Brew N’ Que - Perth, Western Australia
On Saturday, October 5th, the Brew N’ Que Festival will take place in Perth, Australia at the Ascot Racecourse. Experience the best in craft brew and barbecue. The event includes barbecue food vendors, craft beer, live music, cooking demos, competitions with national and international teams, Kids Q competition, classes from “BBQ Pitmasters” television celebrity Harry Soo, and the headline event with pitmaster Bill Dumas of The Switch in Dripping Springs, Texas. More info here.
October 6: Southern Smoke - Houston, Texas
An impressive lineup of pitmasters and chefs have been announced for the fifth annual Southern Smoke festival, which takes place on October 6 in Houston, Texas. Proceeds from the event will go towards the Southern Smoke Emergency Relief Fund and the National MS Society. More info here.
See the full Smoke Sheet events calendar online here.
Picanha is a cut that may surprise your friends.
Smoked Picanha
For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose a video from Greg Mrvich of Ballistic BBQ for Smoked Picanha. Picanha (also known as a sirloin cap) is a cut of beef that is very popular in Brazil. In this video, Greg smokes a whole picanha low and slow on his offset vertical smoker. Then he finishes it off in a bath of fire using Fogo Charcoal. Check out this epic cook! View the recipe here.
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