The spectacular backdrop for the competition is Tom Lee Park on the banks of the Mississippi River.
The river is actually flooding in Memphis right now so the grounds were quite wet and muddy, and you could actually see the the water outside the bank across the river into West Memphis.
This is serious competition and there are more than 240 teams who are competing for big bucks, bragging rights and some porker trophies.
Their name is also incorporated into the design and decor of their booth. Some booths are all business and others are all over-the-top.
Each team has a unique name. I couldn't believe how many creative ways there were to express something about pigs or pork.
The teams are laid out across the park in sections according to the specialty of what they are cooking - ribs, shoulder, whole hog or patio porkers.
Since there are so many of them you can spend quite a bit of time wandering thru and peeking in at the elaborate booths and various cooking process.
Today was actually the judging day and you could tell everyone was taking it very seriously. When judging starts all the festival music stops and every team is intent and focused.
Every booth include a sizable display of their trophies, I'm assuming in an attempt to intimidate the competition.
Teams are not allowed to serve to the public but there was some excellent barbecue available for purchase. We did not opt for Fried Gator on a stick.
We did have one team slip us two ribs from the same rack they had just packed to present to the judges. We were thrilled and the ribs were amazing!
After judging the top three teams in each division are announced and they then have one hour to present a final portion. At the end of the competition day winner are announced and checks handed out on a huge stage set up in the center of the park.
We did not stay for the final judging but opted to go back to the Westin and watch Rachel Alexandria run the Preakness.
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