Table Talk: It’s homecoming at Memphis in May
The 2024 grand champions, The Shed, light the ceremonial grill at the opening ceremony of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest on May 14, 2025. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
Sophia Surrett
Sophia Surrett is a University of Alabama graduate, where she received her B.A. in news media and M.A. in journalism and media studies. She has been with The Daily Memphian since July 2023, first starting as a business reporter covering various beats. Now, she covers food, restaurants, and hospitality and tourism.
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Smoke will soon be in the air at Liberty Park, signaling the start of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
It’s the 48th year for the contest, and it’s a homecoming of sorts for some of the teams that participated in rival barbecue festival SmokeSlam for the past two years.
I haven’t spent much time at Memphis in May’s WCBCC, as it’s known, except for a few hours two years ago after a first date. I don’t think I got the full experience.
I am looking forward to many of the events on the schedule, even barbecue sauce wrestling. Not sure if it’s something I want to see, but I feel it’s a requirement of the week.
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