Meat Eaters

No Midwestern Memorial Day weekend would be complete without barbecue
and the Great American Barbecue Festival, which moves this year
to the Wyandotte County Park at Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone (633
North 130th Street in Bonner Springs). Starting today, when gates open
at 10 a.m., the event serves up three full days of music, carnival
rides and smoked-meat mania. Mania is exactly the right word for Sunday
afternoon’s “Daniel’s Barbecue Competitive Rib Eating Contest,” where
brave souls, often goaded by friends and beer, attempt to win the $500
prize by gulping down 3.1 pounds of baby backs in seven minutes. The
trick is to keep the meat down — no “chipmunking” allowed —
after the buzzer sounds. A festival organizer says half the fun of
watching is the sight of a contestant suffering a humiliating reversal
and spitting up all the meat. For even more fun, there’s a slaw-eating
contest, too. Tonight is the fundraising BBQ Blues Party and Silent
Auction at the VIP Judging Pavilion from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Adult tickets
cost $25; regular admission to the festival is $10, or $15 for a
three-day pass. For more information about the festival or to be a
contestant, see thinkbbq.com.

Fri., May 22, 12-10 p.m.; Sat., May 23, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun., May 24, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., 2009