KC BBQ Festival
Kansas City, MO
The inaugural KC BBQ Festival took place the weekend of July 9th, 10th, and 11th at Arrowhead Field. A free-to-enter festival with bands, cooking demonstrations, and BBQ and Beer to buy is a must-visit! I was able to attend on Saturday, July 10th using VIP Passes that I won from the KCBS!
At this years festival, over 18,000 pounds of meat were smoked, so no one went home hungry! It was held in the parking lot of Arrowhead, and people needing to use the restroom could get a pretty great view of the field from the restrooms in the suites! A nice bonus for the BBQ/Chiefs fans in Kansas City!
VIP Experience
This festival offered a “VIP Experience” for people. For a charge, you could get access to unlimited food and drinks during a 2 hour window. The food and drinks were the same as what other people could purchase individually, so it was basically a pre-payment of your food. Though it was nice to have this access and ease of getting our food, I am not sure I could eat or drink enough to offset the cost of this, had I purchased this on my own.
The Food
The KC BBQ Festival offered a lot of different food options. These were all available to people who pre-purchased via the VIP Experience and on an individual basis to anyone who showed up to the event.
Each of the meats and sides provided something unique. The meats that stood out the most to me were the Chicken Wings from GQue BBQ, the Fried Chicken from Frymaster Tee, the Brisket from Black’s BBQ, and, my favorite, the Pork Sliders from Blue’s Hog BBQ.
As for the side dishes, there were a number of different types of beans and cole slaw that helped complete the meals at each stop. My personal favorite side dish was the Sweet Slaw at 2M Smokehouse!
My only complaint is that the quality of the meat felt a bit hit or miss, based on when you got it. Some of the ribs maybe were not up to the standards, but in order to push out as much food as possible, they got served. Also, the amount of people eating meant that these places had to crank out tons of sides, and sometimes, they would be out for a while. All parts of the growing pains of a new festival, and hopefully they get it all resolved for 2022!
The Festival
During the festival, there was more to see and do outside of eating! In the middle of the festival were two small stages where each group that was cooking would come do a quick demo of the foods they were serving. It was nice to get to see these great chefs show what makes their ribs or pork unique! They also had KC Grilling Co selling items for people to buy if they wanted to try some of these tips out at home! On the main stage, were a number of events. This included bands, eating competitions, and other entertainment options as people enjoyed their world class BBQ!
For more information about the KC BBQ Festival and to stay up to date about future events, be sure to visit their website or Facebook page.
