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Sunday, 20 April, 2014 23:22

Memphis in May on the Cheap

So after watching one of the many shows on the TV highlighting BBQ Fest, you have decided to attend the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. You have arranged to stay at a friend’s house or have rented a hotel room, you have read our Memphis in May Rules page (click to view) and decided you didn’t want to join one of the many teams.  Luckily you found and read our Guide to Memphis in May for people not on a BBQ Team (click to view), now what?

Long picture2

Now you plan what to do. Right now log onto your phone and download the Memphis in May app. This has an interactive map with click and find team names and booths…you will need this.

For those of you that have decided not to purchase a VIP PITPASS, this article should help you navigate how attend BBQ FEST, and how to have fun on the cheap. The VIP pass that Memphis in May offers is a scheduled itinerary of meet and greets, instructional sessions, and parties. It costs over $450. While this is not out of reach, it is a bit pricey for the BBQ Fanatic whose pockets are a bit shallow, or for the non-fanatic that wants to attend one day of this magical event. We are not saying that the VIP is not worth the money…because it totally is. Being able to hang out with 6 top teams and eat and drink with World Champion pitmasters is worth it’s weight in gold, just not everyone can afford it.

In our previous articles we have discussed Memphis in May’s (MIM) programs. They are the Cooker’s Caravan and the Kingsford Tour of Champions. Now with a bit of forethought and $91 we can show you how to have 3 full days of fun at MIM BBQ Fest.

First…click here to purchase your Kingsford Tour of Champions Tickets. They are $12 per session and are available Thursday and Friday. There are 3 sessions each day – 2pm-3:30pm, 3pm-4:30pm and 4pm-5:30pm.  I would purchase the Thursday 4pm-5:30pm session and the Friday 4pm-5:30pm session.

This program evolved from the People’s Choice contest that was a mainstay for a decade. In 2012 MIM decided to let teams be judged by the public in the team’s booth. This costs $15 and gives you access to 3 teams booths. You go to the booths and taste the teams BBQ…AND JUDGE IT. Many teams will offer you a libation while you are judging and will sweet talk you into voting for them. These sessions are 1.5 hours each and can be bought through MIM website before the contest. THESE SELL OUT EVERY YEAR…DO NOT WAIT

This program makes you an official judge. The Kingsford Tour of Champions provides an opportunity for barbecue enthusiasts to judge entries from contenders in the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. You will be participating in on-site judging for barbecued pork shoulder. A pork shoulder entry is defined by Memphis in May as the portion of the hog containing the arm bone, shank bone and a portion of the blade bone. The pork ham, considered to be a shoulder entry, contains the hind leg bone.  You will be given detailed judging information and scoring criteria in your judges packet and during the judging orientation.  If you have any questions about this program, please e-mail [email protected].

so that’s $30 spent.

Now it’s time to discuss the Cooker’s Caravan.  Before 2003 there were no programs for the general public, then came the Cooker Caravan. This program is a guided tour of team booths. It is absolutely FREE. All you have to do is show up at the Cooker’s Caravan Kiosk and sign up. There are two of these in the Park, one near the first set of Rib tents, and one in the Shoulders section. You visit 3 team’s booths, get a guided tour, have a question and answer period…and possibly get food and an invite back.  IF A TEAM INVITES YOU BACK WRITE DOWN THEIR 1. booth number, 2. name of person giving you the booth tour, 3. detailed description of where the booth is located in the park using landmarks able to be seen in the dark. These are imperative as when “Party Time” starts up you will need names of team members to get in the booth, but first you will have to find their booth after the sun goes down, hence #2 and 3.

Now for your itinerary…

Admission Gates are free on Thursday and Friday from 11am-1pm. 

memphisinmay walk in

Thursday May 16th – PARTY DAY

Thursday is the Best Booth, Best T-shirt, and the Ms. Piggie Idol contest. First two are self-explanatory, the third is well….more complicated.  Performers wear elaborate costumes, many featuring full-figured men in Pig Drag, singing porked up versions of popular songs.  An absolute MUST SEE!  Winners have included “Rib in a Box”, “Grills, Grills, Grills”, “Sweet Swine O’ Mine”, and the “Swine Warp.” The best time to connect with teams is on this day.  Go around and ask about their cookers, no team can resist showing off.  Awards are in the early evening and then a band is called in to finish out the night

1. 11:10am arrive at the Beale Street gates, enter the park, and find the “Cooker Caravan” Kiosk in the middle of the walkway near the first break in rib tents. Sign up for the 12:30pm and 3:00pm Caravans.
2. 11:45-12:15 make a loop around “Rib Row” by walking back towards the Beale Street Entrance to the north and making your last left and walking back towards the South along the riverside booths. Grab a beer ($4) from a vendor and Meet back at Cooker Caravan kiosk at 12:20
3. 12:30-1:20 Tour team booths, make friends, take notes of teams that invite you back.
4. 1:30-2:20 walk around the “Shoulder and Whole Hog” sections then grab something from a vendor ($12)
5. 2:50 meet back at Cooker Caravan kiosk.
6 3:00-3:50 Tour team booths, make friends, take notes of teams that invite you back.
7. 4:00-5:30 Tour Kingsford Tour of Champions teams. Pig out on Pork, judge it, have fun, make friends.
8. 6:30 Watch Ms. Piggie Idol competition. Utter hilarity
9. 8:00 Go back to the teams you made friends with and party until the Cops shut down the park at Midnight. While you can’t pay to get into a team booth, it is customary to throw some cash in the bartenders tip jar for the drinks and hospitality.

Notice today we only spent about $19 so far…why? Well you have hopefully had a few samples given to you by teams during the two caravans, you ate lunch from a vendor, you bought a beer and had water to stay hydrated, and, to get your vote, the 3 different 4pm-5:30pm Tour of Champions teams wined and dined you with pulled pork and a few libations. You have thus far spent $43 total. If you were invited back to a booth for a party, you should toss at least $10 into their tip jar, you have now spent $53…and are now indebted to your new friends, don’t forget you are a guest, try to remember team members names, and go back tomorrow to say hi. If you feel your welcome has worn out, move on, try again later tonight after they have had a couple liters of beer.

Friday May 17th – ANCILLARY DAY

Friday is chocked full of competition cooking with the ancillary division contests.  Categories include Tomato, Mustard and Vinegar Sauces; meat categories which include Beef, Poultry, Exotic, and Seafood, as well as the Hot Wings contest.  A band plays before the awards, and then another after.  Many cooking teams throw down the party on Thursday but are very much reserved on Friday night in anticipation for Saturday’s turn-ins.  Of course that is just the cooking  crew (about 5 people), the REST of the team, which on some teams include up to 200 members, live high on the hog and party till the cops shut them down for quiet time at midnight.

1. 11:10am arrive at the Beale Street gates, enter the park, and find the “Cooker Caravan” Kiosk in the middle of the park near the Shoulders section. Sign up for the 12:30pm and 3:00pm Caravans.
2. 11:45-12:15 make a loop around “Rib Row” and check back in with teams you have made friends with…or perhaps chat up a few new teams asking to see their rigs. Grab a beer ($4) from a vendor and Meet back at Cooker Caravan kiosk at 12:20
3. 12:30-1:20 Tour team booths, make more friends, take notes of teams that invite you back.
4. 1:30-2:20 walk around the “Shoulder and Whole Hog” sections checking in and chating to the teams that you visited the day before, then grab something from a vendor for lunch ($12)
5. 2:50 meet back at Cooker Caravan
6 3:00-3:50 Tour team booths, make friends, take notes of teams that invite you back.
7. 4:00-5:30 Tour Kingsford Tour of Champions teams. Pig out on Pork, judge it, have fun, make friends.
8. 6:30 Watch the daily awards ceremony
9. 8:00 Go back to the teams you made friends with and party until the Cops shut down the park at Midnight. While you can’t pay to get into a team booth, it is customary to throw some cash in the bartenders tip jar for the drinks and hospitality.

Notice again today we only spent about $19…why? Well you have hopefully had a few more samples given to you by teams during the two caravans, you ate lunch from a vendor, you bought a beer and had water to stay hydrated, and, to get your vote, the 3 different from last night 4pm-5:30pm Tour of Champions teams wined and dined you with pulled pork and a few libations. You have thus far spent $62 total. If you were invited back to a booth for a party, you should toss at least $10 into their tip jar, Lucky you were invited back to 2 teams tents thus you dropped $20. You have now spent $82…

Saturday May 18th – COMPETITION DAY

Saturday is held in the reverence of a Sunday morning Baptist church.  There are no loud stereos, no parties, and no sign of the Carnival like atmosphere of the previous days.  This is the Church of Cochon. Today we celebrate and piously reflect upon the main pork categories of Ribs, Shoulder, and Whole Hog.  Every team has a blind box to turn in, and three onsite judges to schmooze.  Booths are dolled up prettier than a 5th Avenue fine dining restaurant.  Silver platters hold racks of ribs, exotic lettuces and fruits ornately decorate grilles and smokers, and you could even spot a team or two wearing tuxes, and greeting judges with a maitre d’.   After all is said and done the long wait begins…only 3 teams from each category make the finals.  We all wait for a smiling guy in a golf cart to attach a sign to your fence, signaling you are a finalist.  When this happens, a HUGE cheer erupts, then you go into panic mode.  That sign means 4 judges are coming to your booth to judge your pork.  Fast forward to 6:30pm, everyone gathers at the main stage for the awards. The MC comes on and announces 10th through 1st place.  If you didn’t final you pray for 4th-10th a HUGE honor in a field of 250.

1. 11:10am arrive at the Beale Street gates, buy your ticket for $9 (NOT FREE ON SATURDAY) enter the park, and proceed to the “Whole Hog” area, they are the first to be judged. Situate yourself where you can duck between 3 team presentations…careful not to make a noise. Observe and be amazed.
2. 11:50 proceed to the “Shoulder” area, they are the second to be judged. Situate yourself where you can duck between 3 team presentations…careful not to make a noise. Again observe and be amazed.
3. 12:40 proceed to the “Rib” area, they are the third to be judged. Situate yourself where you can duck between 3 team presentations…careful not to make a noise. Again observe and be amazed.
4. 1:30-3:10 walk around the “Shoulder and Whole Hog” sections checking in and chatting to the teams that you visited the day before, if you have done as we said and made friends, they will invite you in for lunch.
5. 3:15 walk around the “Rib” section checking in and chatting to the teams that you visited the day before, if you have done as we said and made friends, they will invite you in for lunch.
6. 6:30 Watch the daily awards ceremony
7. 8:00 Go back to the teams you made friends with and party until the Cops shut down the park at 10PM.

You have partied at Memphis in May for $91…If at all possible throw a little more in those team tip jars, they spend thousands of dollars putting this amazing contest on, put it this way – two beers on Beale is $12 with a tip, do the right thing.

Comments

Posted On
May 08, 2014
Posted By
Greg

If you are a certified MIM judge, you can eat great BBQ for Friday & Saturday. You can check out the requirements on the MemphisInMay.org site for the 2015 contest (If have to attend a day seminar and then judge 2 events). If you are not certified, the Kingsford contest is great way to get to judge some of the best BBQ. Bad news, the slots for the Kingsford contest goes fast and I think it is too late for the 2014 contest. So, you will have to wait for the 2015 contest to join in for both.

Posted On
Nov 19, 2019
Posted By
Neil Graeff

We came to MIM a couple years back and I remember using your guide to help navigate our trip, which was wonderful. We are considering attending the American Royal in Kansas City next year and I want to ask if you are aware of anything like what you have created for that event? Thanks for any help you can offer and thanks for giving such a detailed guide for the MIM as it was a tremendous help for our trip.

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