Kansas City, Mo. ? Bands will play, and children will shout.

There will be carnival rides, a golf tournament, a baseball game and live music. During a chef showdown the governor herself is calling “an official barbecue championship of the state of Kansas,” the tempting aroma of brisket and ribs will perfume the April air.

In addition to all that, at the end of Kansas State’s innovative spring football weekend in Manhattan, an actual, leather-popping football game will be played.

But even that will come with come with several new twists. After holding an NFL-like player draft Thursday, Kansas State’s two coordinators will split the Wildcats into separate teams for a competition kicking off Saturday at 6 p.m.

First-year head coach Ron Prince will have a bird’s-eye view, at least for the first half. Instead of pacing the sidelines and barking out orders as head coaches normally do, Prince will be in the radio booth offering color commentary.

“I’ll be the commissioner of the draft and have a big part in everything that happens,” said Prince, who says he never has done anything like this before.

“But it’s a good opportunity for me to step back from it and maybe provide some insight for the fans.”

A golf tournament will tee off Friday at Colbert Hills. On Saturday, Kansas State will play host to Kansas University in a Big 12 Conference baseball game.

Laura Tietjen, the associate director of athletics, was one of the main creators of the Spring Game Fan Fest Weekend and hopes at least 20,000 people attend.

“I don’t want to take credit for it completely,” she said. “A lot of schools have done some things that are similar. Our long-range plan is to make this a destination weekend for K-State fans and alumni. We think it will be great for Kansas State and for Manhattan and for our football players.”

The barbecue contest is much more than a few fans firing up their grills. Fifty professionals and 25 amateurs will compete in sanctioned events.

“We expect that event to grow and grow,” Tietjen said.

When the game gets under way, offensive coordinator James Franklin will be in charge of one squad and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris will run the other. Unlike most college spring games in which the No. 1 offense goes against the No. 1 defense, starters and reserves will be mixed together on each squad.

“We’re trying to make sure we have a competitive tension and a competitive environment,” said Prince, who has opened several spring practices for the same reasons.

Coaches will be looking for many things. Perhaps priority No. 1 will be sorting out a quarterback foursome of Allan Evridge, Kevin Lopina, Dylan Meier and freshman Josh Freeman, who arrived on campus between semesters.

“You don’t become a quarterback at this level unless you have talent,” said Prince, who faces the enormous task of replacing Bill Snyder.

“It’s a matter of degrees. We feel the quarterback who has the best chance to lead us is one who just some way gets his team in the end zone one way or the other.

“That’s what we’ll be trying to assess with the spring game: How do these guys perform under competitive tension and pressure?”