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?
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 that did not purchase a VIP PITPASS, this article should help you navigate how attend three full days of 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 $549 per person. 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 multiple 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, BBQ Alley and the Kingsford Tour of Champions. Now with a bit of forethought and $159 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 $30 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.
You MUST purchase at least 1 General admission ticket to purchase up to 8 Kingsford TOC/BBQ Alley tickets. So plan ahead and buy your SATURDAY tickets as the General Admission on Thursday and Friday is FREE from 11am-1pm. Then after choosing your General Admission ticket add up to 8 Kingsford and 8 BBQ Alley Tickets to your purchase.
So that is $15 spent on a Saturday Ticket
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 $30 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 as an add on AFTER buying a general admission ticket through MIM website before the contest. THESE SELL OUT EVERY YEAR…DO NOT WAIT
This program makes you an official judge.
SO PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY TURN IN YOUR BALLOTS AT THE END!!!
Winners are decided by the percentage of judges that vote for them on the ballot. When ballots are thrown out…you are literally spitting in the face of the teams that worked so hard to cook for you. This isn’t Dine and Dash, so please, TURN IN YOUR BALLOTS!
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 $60 spent. ($75 total)
The next program is the BBQ Alley. This evolved from folks wanting a centralized tasting area made up of Famous Memphis BBQ Restaurants. This is the all in one tasting experience at the contest. Limited quantities of $25 tickets are sold online and then the contest holds some back to sell in person. 250 total tickets are sold for each time slot. This is the ONLY public program with time slots on Saturday. We suggest buying the 3pm session on Saturday, this allows you to visit teams while they are judged. These sessions can be bought as an add-on AFTER buying a general admission ticket through MIM website before the contest. THESE ALSO SELL OUT EVERY YEAR…DO NOT WAIT
so that’s $25 spent. $100 TOTAL
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 starts at 500pm on Wednesday May 17 –
TEAM SCHEDULE
GENERAL PUBLIC SCHEDULE
BIG ISSUE MANY DON’T REALIZE. Teams are just finishing setup.
This was traditionally a friends and family only night up until a few years ago. Many teams still keep this as a night to have small children and family members in the booth for food and fellowship. This means many teams are not focused on showing off/bragging/ crowds than they will be Thursday and Friday.
NOW TO THE MEAT AND POTATOES!!!
Admission Gates are free on Thursday and Friday from 11am-1pm.
Thursday May 18th – PARTY DAY
TEAM SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MAY 18
• Food Load-in: 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• Ice Sales: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Vehicles Cleared from Park By: 9:30 a.m.
• Team Beer Sales: 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Admission Ticket Sales: 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
• Free Admission Gate: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Park Open to Public: 11:00 a.m.
• Park Closes: 12:00 a.m.
ANCILLARY TURN-IN TIMES
• Tomato Sauce: 12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.
• Mustard Sauce: 12:45 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Vinegar Sauce: 1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
• Hot Wings: 2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Turkey Smoke: 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
SPECIAL EVENT TIMES:
• Home Depot Best Booth Judging: 11:00 a.m.
• Kingsford Tour of Champions:
BBQ Alley by Big Green Egg & Friends:
Cooker Caravan:
• T-Shirt Contest Judging: 3:00 p.m.
• Ms. Piggie Idol Contest: 6:00 p.m.
(Contestants on stage by 5:30)
• Awards Ceremony: 7:00 p.m.
(Ms. Piggie Idol, T-shirt, Booth)
• Featured Entertainment
Thursday is the Tomato, Vinegar and Mustard sauce cooking contests, as well as Turkey and Wings. The non-food categories of Best Booth, Best T-shirt, and the Ms. Piggie Idol contest are also this day. 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 twenty bucks 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 $119 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 $129…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 19th – ANCILLARY DAY
TEAM SCHEDULE
Meat Load-in: 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• Meat inspection: 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Ice Sales: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Vehicles Cleared from Park By: 9:30 a.m.
• Team Beer Sales: 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Admission Ticket Sales: 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
• Free Admission Gate: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Park Open to Public: 11:00 a.m.
• Awards Ceremony: 6:00 p.m.
• Park Closes: 12:00 a.m.
ANCILLARY TURN-IN TIMES
• Beef Turn-in: 12:45 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Poultry Turn-in: 1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
• Seafood Turn-in: 2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Exotic Turn-in: 3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
• Awards Ceremony: 6:00 p.m.
(Anything But, Hot Wings, Sauce)
SPECIAL EVENT TIMES:
Kingsford Tour of Champions:
BBQ Alley by Big Green Egg & Friends:
Cooker Caravan:
• Featured Entertainment
• CLOSING ENTERTAINMENT
Friday is chocked full of competition cooking with the ancillary division contests, categories include Beef, Poultry, Exotic, and Seafood. 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 $20…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 $148 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 $168…
Saturday May 18th – COMPETITION DAY
TEAM SCHEDULE
• Ice Sales: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Team Beer Sales: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Admission Ticket Sales: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
• Park Open to Public: 10:00 a.m.
• Park Closes: 10:00 p.m.
• No Saturday load-out
BLIND TURN-IN TIMES:
• Rib: 10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• Shoulder: 12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.
• Whole Hog: 1:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
ON-SITE JUDGING TIMES:
• Rib: 11:00 a.m.
• Shoulder: 12:15 p.m.
• Whole Hog: 1:30 p.m.
• Championship Awards Ceremony: 6:30 p.m.
SPECIAL EVENT TIMES:
BBQ Alley by Big Green Egg & Friends:
• Featured Entertainment
• Closing Band
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 150.
1. 10:00am arrive at the gates, buy your ticket for $15 (NOT FREE ON SATURDAY…If you followed our advice above you bought your ticket online when you bought you BBQ Alley and Kingsford Tour Tickets…) enter the park, and proceed to the Rib 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. 1:15pm proceed to the “Whole Hog” 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. 2-6:15 walk around the 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. 3:00pm – Try and get tickets for the BBQ Alley at this time if you did not purchase online. $25 per person. No Party on Saturday, best time to stuff your face.
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 just over $150..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 $15 with a tip, do the right thing.
Memphis in May, Memphis BBQ Festival, Memphis BBQ, Memphis BBQ Guide, BBQFEST, BBQ Fest Guide, Memphis BBQ Fest, Memphis in May 2021, Memphis in May 2022, BBQ FEST 2023, #WCBCC, #WCBCC23, #MIM, MIM 2023, MIM23, BBQFEST 2023, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BBQ 2023, Memphis BBQ Festival 2023, Memphis BBQ 2023, BBQ CONTEST MEMPHIS 2023