In this grilling challenge sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, 65 barbecue teams from a six state area converge to vie for top spots, prizes and a shot at competing for the Missouri State Championship. "All teams will compete at the KCBS level and will be judged in four divisions chicken, pork, beef and anything-but-meat," says Steve Scott, chairman of the event's five-member management team. "And there are multiple categories in each division.
" "We're really excited that this will be our eighth Rock 'n Ribs BBQ festival," Scott says. "We believe this is one of the premiere charitable events in Springfield." While the festival is open this evening for a preview, the main event and taste-testing is set for Saturday, he says.
"Saturday offers the opportunity to watch professionals and amateurs compete in the barbecue competition and visitors will get to taste what they're cooking and cast votes for the Peoples Choice Award," Scott says, "In addition, we will have a children's area with lots of things to do, baby pigs to feed, a pie-eating contest and lots of live music." Regarding Dan and the M-Dock Band perform tonight; Saturday evening's lineup includes What's Next? and the Mark Chapman Band.
While Saturday festival-goers can come early and stay late, they'll have nothing over on the contestants. "We'll start cooking at about 2 a.m.
on Saturday because it takes about 8 to 12 hours," says Jim McCloud, whose Southeast Rotary team from Springfield has been involved in the competition for the past seven years and has entries in four categories. "This event has been brought about by the efforts of the six local rotary clubs," Scott says, "and the idea from the beginning was to raise funds for children's charities of the Ozarks." To date, he says, $320,000 has been raised for a pool of organizations including Boys Girls Town of Missouri, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Good Samaritan Boys Ranch and others.
When: 6 p.m. today for the preview party; 10 a.
m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday -- sample barbecue and vote for the People's Choice winner from 1:15 to 5 p.m. Where: Parking lot of Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, 1935 S.
Campbell Ave. Admission: $7 tonight (for ages 21 and older only); $7, FREE for children 12 and younger on Saturday 7 to 8:30 p.m.
-- Regarding Dan (rock) 9 to 11 p.m. -- M-Dock Band (rock 12:30-3 p.
m. -- Band contest 3:15-4 p.m.
-- Pie-eating contest 4-5:30 p.m. -- Band contest 6-7:30 p.
m. -- What's Next? (rock) 6-7 p.
m. -- Awards 8-11 p.m.
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