The DM has a look at the sauce wrestling event that happened Wednesday night at BBQ Fest.
Here’s the schedule for today at BBQ Fest. A few of my picks:
- The Grill Mates demos, because they conclude with samples for the audience. They’ll make citrus-brined smoked turkey breasts at 1:00 and garlic butter cheesesteak tacos at 4:00.
- Ms. Piggie Idol singing/performance competition 6:00
- Awards ceremony for Ms. Piggie Idol, Best T-shirt, and Best Booth 7:00
- Al Kapone 8:00
- The Sugarhill Gang 9:15
Tom Lee Park is open to the public today from 11 AM to 12 midnight. Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the entrance.
Dos Hermanos, the cafe inside the newly-reopened Cossitt Library at Front and Monroe, will host guest bakers for the next few months: Buttermilk Babes Memphis. Stop by and try some of their desserts.
To celebrate BBQ Fest, both Slider Inn locations will offer pulled pork sliders with BBQ sauce and slaw through Saturday, May 20.
Kinfolk restaurant, originally a stand at the 409 S. Main food hall and currently a pop-up at Comeback Coffee in The Pinch, is getting its own brick-and-mortar location. In August, Kinfolk will move to Harbor Town Square in the location formerly occupied by taco shop Inches. Kinfolk is operated by Chef Cole Jeanes and is best known for its cathead biscuits.
From Beale Street Bears: 4 Grizzlies who improved their trade value in 2023
Ja 1 sneakers are no longer listed for sale online by Nike.
ABC 24 asks, is it time for the Grizzlies to trade Ja Morant?
Don’t forget that this year, BBQ Fest’s Patio Porker competition will be single-day only (this Saturday) and held in Handy Park at B.B. King and Beale. The competition is free and open to the public. It allows backyard-griller types to get the BBQ Fest experience. They must cook ribs for the judges and in past years have been limited to 10′ x 10′ booths (although I’m not sure that will remain the case with the move to Handy Park). Teams that win the Patio Porkers division or who “age out” after competing for a certain number of years are expected to move up to one of the Big Three divisions (Ribs, Shoulder, or Whole Hog) the next year.
Max Kaplan & The Magics play Earnestine & Hazel’s this Friday at 9:30.
Memphis Chess Club at Madison and B.B. King Blvd. will host Nerd Nite Memphis Friday evening from 7 to 9.
River Series at Harbor Town Amphitheater returns this Saturday from 4 to 7:30 PM. DJ Tree will kick things off at 4. At 5 there will be a tribute to The Limes, a Memphis band with a unique sound that was the brainchild of musician Shawn Cripps. Shawn died in December 2021 in a truck accident. At 6 Spider Bags, a band from Chapel Hill, NC, take the stage. $10 adults/$5 kids.
There will be a party in the park (Health Sciences Park) this Friday from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM to celebrate National Bike to Work Day. Food trucks Good Groceries Mobile and Dynamic Duo Burritos will be on site, and the first 20 attendees to show their bike helmets at check-in will receive a free lunch voucher. Groovy Italian Ice will be there selling desserts. Gemini will supply the live music.
Royal Vibes will present Spirituality 101 at The Broom Closet, 550 S. Main, this Saturday at 2 PM. This will be a course on how to find and walk your own spiritual path. There’s a $10 “energy exchange” for this event.
From Forbes: Where to dine and drink while in Memphis for BBQ Fest
The CA has photos of Day 1 of BBQ Fest.
MemphisWeather.net says showers and t’storms will become likely after 10 PM on Friday, so if you plan on attending BBQ Fest that night, you might want to take a raincoat or make plans to be out of the park by then.
Chicken producer Perdue now makes Beer Can Chicken beer. It’s a beer specifically designed for making beer can chicken on the grill. Yes that’s really a thing – you stick a can of beer in the bird. It makes the chicken moist and juicy. When I was on a BBQ team, we made it for lunch a couple of years.
The Downtown Memphis Commission will offer beginner biking classes for adults using Explore Bike Share bikes on several dates in June, September, and October. Classes are free, but space is limited so you must register in advance.
Springhill Suites on Court Square seeks a front desk clerk.
Montana became the first state to ban Chinese-owned TikTok this week.
Strippers in L.A. are. unionizing.
And that’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.