National BBQ Festival Makes a Splash in New York
Roughly 10,000 attendees took part in this event that included BBQ demonstrations, competitions, and celebrity pitmasters.
This past weekend, thousands of barbecue fans showed up for tasty smoked meats, celebrity pitmasters, cooking demos, live music, and much more at the National BBQ Festival (NBF) on Long Island, New York.
The NBF was previously held in Georgia from 2002 to 2011. Bringing this back and moving to Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, was a way to breathe new life into the event. This year’s edition attracted approximately 10,000 attendees, had live-fire demos, BBQ samples, food trucks, vendors of all kinds, and a competition with $100,000 in prize money on the line.
“For the first time putting this together since 2011, I thought it was overall pretty successful.” Kell Phelps, National BBQ Festival coordinator and Managing Partner for National BBQ News and NBBQA, said.
Saturday attendees (including myself) to the three-day event braved a treacherous rainstorm that made things a little challenging to navigate, but it was still a lot of fun to talk with so many notable names in barbecue and to try a lot of delicious bites all in one place. I was told by several others that the Friday and Sunday festivities were more enjoyable because the rain held off.
“Thankfully, the weather held back some of the excitable crowds, as we had our plates full with those who did brave the rain,” Phelps said. “Like any first-time event in a new location, we will make changes to enhance our attendees’ experience, but we are already working on plans for 2026 now.”
Some celebrity pitmasters who cooked at the event (with long lines) included Tuffy Stone, Thyron Mathews, Misty Banchero, Stretch, “Captain” Ron Dimpflmaier, and more. I was able to try some outstanding pork tenderloin from Stone, flavorful ribeye with chimichurri from Dimpflmaier, and juicy tomahawk steak from Banchero.
While the fun was happening in one section of the park, in another, there was a fierce BBQ competition and Steak Cookoff Association double battle. The BBQ comp attracted 29 teams while the SCA double hosted 28 competitors. One of the coolest things I witnessed was the variety of competitors in the BBQ competition, including restaurants like Kam Rai Thai and Stuey’s Smokehouse Barbecue, as well as big names like Moe Cason, Phil the Grill, and Warren G.
The top winners of the barbecue competition included:
Grand Champion ($25K prize): Smoke Central BBQ
Reserve Grand Champion (Runner Up): Smokin’ Hoggz BBQ
1st in Chicken: Smoke Central BBQ
1st in Ribs: Rough Cut Q
1st in Pork: Smoke Central BBQ
1st in Brisket: Rusty’s Smoke BBQ
1st in Whole Hog: Good Googly Goo BBQ
The top winners of the Steak Cookoff Association Double included:
Steak A 1st: Stephen D’Amico
Steak B 1st: Craig Carter
1st in Meatballs: Rob Dopp
1st in Wings: Greg Boggs
1st in Long Island Iced Tea: Craig Carter
From my perspective, this new version of the National BBQ Festival was a success, especially with its return after 14 years. The world was a very different place in 2011, and it was easier to host an event like this back then for numerous reasons.
The fact that the NBF attracted so many people was a sign that this community is hungry for more barbecue events, especially with top-tier national talent. The downside to big crowds was long lines for samples, but that’s also a reality of many major food events. All in all, it was a fun time.
Now the big question is … can this event be even bigger and better next year? Phelps and his team are working diligently on it, and I hope they succeed.
Sean Ludwig
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet
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Congratulations to the Shawnee Mission High School students !