Enter the Ring: Great Lenexa Barbecue Battle
More than three decades after it began, this year’s Great Lenexa Barbecue Battle Kansas State Championship will take place on June 21 and 22. And what a battle it is. Guest blogger Lisa Waterman Gray walks you through this delicious battleground.
The Great Lenexa Barbecue Battle has grown from 12 contestants to 185 contestants in 2012. When the weather is good, upwards of 25,000 people attend the two-day event. The lucky ones find parking nearby, while others forgo a fruitless search and hop onto free shuttle buses that depart from several locations.
As Friday evening begins, the rolling terrain in Lenexa’s Sar-Ko-Par Trail Park becomes a sea of multi-colored tent tops where addictive aromas of grilled and smoked meats permeate the air as live music gears up for a bustling evening. There’s every variety of cooking apparatus on hand, from trusty round charcoal grills to tall, egg-shaped smokers and handcrafted custom equipment that resembles a pink pig or an antique train engine. Read more
