The same organization starting a music festival next May in Tom Lee Park has announced plans to hold a barbecue contest there that same month – the week of May 13, 2024.

Forward Momentum, the organizers of Mempho Music Festival, announced Wednesday, Nov. 22, plans to hold a new barbecue competition in the park.

The plans were announced the day after Memphis in May International Festival Inc. said it was taking applications for its 2024 World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest to be held May 15-18 at Liberty Park.

Table Talk: Final Thanksgiving prep, food gift ideas galore

MIM announced earlier this year it was moving the contest to Liberty Park and suspending its Beale Street Music Festival, traditionally scheduled on the opening weekend of the monthlong series of events.

Memphis in May has not yet signed a lease with the city for the use of Liberty Park.

“It has been discussed, but currently there is not an executed agreement,” said city communication chief Allison Fouche.

Forward Momentum announced in October it is planning a music festival for the opening weekend of May 2024 in Tom Lee Park separate from its annual festival at Memphis Botanic Garden under the Mempho banner.

Mike Smith of Forward Momentum said in a press release Wednesday the new barbecue contest will increase prize money for teams “substantially compared to previous competitions” and will expand the competition “to be more inclusive and interactive, with new events and activities appealing to a broad group of local residents and visitors alike.”

Like the new May music festival, the barbecue contest is still to be named.

Forward Momentum is in the process of establishing a steering committee to organize the contest as well as talk with barbecue teams, Downtown businesses and others about what they want to see in the festival.

Interested teams can fill out Forward Momentum’s online form to receive more information as contest details are finalized.

Paul Young names city attorney, chief communications officer

Memphis in May put on a smaller barbecue contest this year in its return to Tom Lee Park after a year at Tiger Lane in Liberty Park. The contest and music festival moved to Tiger Lane while Tom Lee Park was being redesigned.

The competition was without the patio porkers category as the festival complained the park redesign forced it to cut the number of teams.

The Downtown Memphis Commission hosted the patio porkers competition the same weekend in the Beale Street entertainment district, independent of Memphis in May.

MIM suspended the music festival for 2024 and announced the move of the barbecue contest to Liberty Park citing the redesign of the park and a $1.425 million damage from Memphis River Parks Partnership.

The bill said the damages were from both events, but primarily the barbecue contest.

History of Downtown music festivals holds plenty of off-stage drama

Samuel Hardiman contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: Kevin McEniry — a member of the board of Memphis Fourth Estate, the nonprofit that owns and operates The Daily Memphian — is founder and master producer of the Mempho Festival and Mempho Presents.