The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is back in Tom Lee Park this year, now that the park’s $62 million renovation is mostly complete. Read on as The Daily Memphian’s Memphis in May festival guide series offers tips, tent etiquette and more.

A member of the Hog Wild team totes a gift from a competitor back to his booth during the first day of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest at Tom Lee Park on May 15, 2019. (Jim Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

“Smoke on the water” is actually back on the water this year. After a canceled pandemic year, a downsized event at Tom Lee Park in 2021 and last year’s festival at Liberty Park, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest (better known as “barbecue fest”) is finally back in full force on the river’s edge, and by tomorrow, all of Downtown will smell like a backyard cookout.

This map shows the layout of this year’s World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest at Tom Lee Park. (Courtesy MIM)

Where’s the ’cue? As the name implies, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is a cooking contest, not a food festival. And you cannot purchase barbecue from the cooking teams. The teams only cook for the judges, fellow team members and their own friends and family. Health department regulations prevent them from serving to the general public. So if you want to eat, your best bet is to make friends with someone on a team before the fest. (There are a few other ways to eat, and we’ll get into that below.) If you’re looking for your friends’ tent, consult the handy map above.

The Swine & Dine tent is packed at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Tom Lee Park in 2019. (Holly Whitfield/The Daily Memphian file)

Tent etiquette: If you have a connection on a team, don’t assume you can waltz into this friend’s barbecue tent on Friday night for dinner. Instead, ask them in advance which days and times they’re accepting guests. Some teams are working with smaller layouts this year (see below), and they may have wristbands to control crowd size.

Competition teams pay for their space, equipment, food, bar and entertainment out of their own pockets, so a generous cash tip — at least $20 — is appropriate if you end up having a few drinks or are invited to visit during a meal. Another note on tent activities: Wednesday night is usually for close friends and family as teams finish prep for competitions. Thursday and Friday nights are when the parties get going after competition. Saturday morning is set aside for serious competition, so don’t expect a festival atmosphere until after that’s finished. 

Barbecue restaurants offer samples in BBQ Alley at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in 2019. (Holly Whitfield/The Daily Memphian file)

Where to eat (if you don’t have a friend on a team): Don’t have barbecue connections? While the WCBCC experience is best if you have tent access, you can still sample some of the teams’ barbecue by purchasing a Kingsford Tour of Champions ticket for an additional $30 (that’s on top of the $15 day pass). This will allow you a chance to taste and judge barbecue from the competing teams, and you’ll get the chance to hear team members explain their craft. For $25, you can also add on a ticket for BBQ Alley, where restaurants Edley’s BBQ (Nashville), Swig & Swine BBQ (Charleston, South Carolina), Grand Champion BBQ (Atlanta) and Paradise Grill (Atoka) will offer tastings. Additionally, Home Depot, one of this year’s WCBCC sponsors, will be demo-ing grills at the fest, and they’ll have a few samples you can munch on. (Check out the schedule to see when Home Depot is offering samples.) Food trucks and vendors will also have food for sale at the fest.

John Jordan Proctor with the Sweet Cheeks BBQ tent carves up a pork shoulder during the last day of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Liberty Park on May 14, 2022. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Why barbecue fest is smaller this year: You may notice that there are fewer barbecue teams than in years past. Memphis in May officials say the new design of Tom Lee Park cuts down on how much space they’ll have for barbecue tents, so 35 barbecue teams received a letter letting them know that they didn’t make the cut for this year’s festival. Teams that made the cut were selected on a “first come, first served” basis with consideration for past festival winners as well.

You’ll find ‘Patio Porkers’ on Beale: In that same vein, the WCBCC’s long-standing “Patio Porkers” contest has been moved to Beale Street for space reasons. The 30-team, one-day, ribs-only “smoke-off” will be held on Beale Street this year on Saturday, May 20, and it will be free (so no need for a barbecue fest ticket). 

Chris Sutton with the All-Star Ten Pin Porkers checks on his ribs at the 2022 World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest at Liberty Park. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Get barbecue tips from the experts: If you fancy yourself a true barbecue aficionado, you’ll probably want to add on a Cooker Caravan ticket. Every half hour between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., volunteers will lead tours to barbecue fest tents, where team members will provide a short presentation on their grilling tips, equipment and other notes on their craft. Note: Teams will not be offering samples on these tours. 

Concert goers navigate a maze of shrubbery at the Beale Street Music Festival in Tom Lee Park on May 6, 2023. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

What’s new in Tom Lee Park? As Beale Street Music Festival attendees discovered earlier this month, the redesigned Tom Lee Park is a bit of a maze. Landscaped areas and the playground are fenced off for both safety reasons and to protect new plantings, and that means there aren’t a lot of straight paths from one end of the park to the other. This also means some of your favorite longtime barbecue teams might not be located in their usual spots. 

John Romo with the Chi Town Cookers performs in the Ms. Piggie Idol competition during the second day of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest on May 12, 2022. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

What to do besides barbecue: You can’t eat all day, right? (Okay, well, maybe you can, and no judgment if that’s the case.) There’s plenty going on at the WCBCC besides barbecue. On Wednesday night, there’s sauce wrestling (yes, it’s as gross as it sounds). Thursday brings the Ms. Piggie Idol contest and performances by Memphis rapper Al Kapone and veteran hip-hop act The Sugarhill Gang (of “Rapper’s Delight” fame). On Friday, 1990s alt-rockers Cracker (remember their single “Low”?) take the stage. And Saturday brings the grand champion awards ceremony and music by singer-songwriter Nolan Taylor and country artist (and Hernando’s Hide-A-Way owner) Dale Watson. See the awards and entertainment schedule here.

What to bring (and not to bring): Most bags must be clear, but purses smaller than 9x9 inches don’t have to be. (This is a new rule from MIM this year after last year’s ban on opaque bags caused confusion.) Camelbak hydration packs that hold 1.75 liters or less don’t have to be clear either. And there’s an 18x18x18-inch maximum size on all bags. If you’re not carrying a hydration pack, you might want to bring along a 20-ounce, factory-sealed bottle of water. You can refill this at two water stations in the park to save a few bucks. Other things you might want: your I.D., a non-aerosol bottle of sunscreen (aerosols are banned in the park) and a blanket to sit on. Other banned items include selfie sticks, drones, strollers, laser pointers, hammocks and bad attitudes (really, that’s on the list). For a full list of what to bring and what not to bring, go here. 

Renee Graves readies her umbrella as she leaves a Downtown Memphis parking garage during a rainy Thursday on June 27, 2019. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Where to park: The return to the river means there is no designated parking. But MIM has shared maps of Premium Parking spaces and other parking areas Downtown. Downtown’s Premium Parking street spaces are free after 6 p.m. every night and all day on Sundays, so you may luck into a zero-cost parallel parking spot just a few blocks from Tom Lee Park.

Have a great time at the WCBCC! If you haven’t signed up for our month-long Memphis in May Festival Guide email series, do that here. We’ll be sending one more email on May 25 with tips to run your best Great American River Run. 

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