If you love barbecue and live in Kansas, you probably already know you’re in the right place. And what better way to live up to the state’s reputation as the home of barbecue than to have hundreds of barbecue competitions every summer?

From the best in backyard barbecuing to world champions, Kansas offers countless opportunities for BBQ die-hards to try to smoke out their competitors each summer. Here are just a few.

• The Great American Barbecue Festival, May 22-24, at Wyandotte County Park at Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone, Bonner Springs. The festival offers dozens of competitions and categories, including a Kids Que competition.

• The 18th annual McLouth BBQ Blowout, June 5-6, at McLouth Prairie Park.

• The Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle, June 26-27. Competition started in 1982 and takes place the fourth Saturday every June. About 190 barbecuers are judged by 240 people at the event.

• The 10th annual Central Kansas Barbeque Cookoff in Great Bend, July 10-11. The cookoff hosts 50 barbecue teams from states as far as New Mexico.

“People like the home atmosphere here,” said contest coordinator Kent Romine.

• Burlington’s Wildblue Barbeque, July 17-18, at Kelley Park in the Coffey County Fairgrounds. The event offers 11 prizes and raises money for educational scholarships.

• The 20th annual East Central State BBQ Cook-Off, also known as the Paola Roots Festival, will be Aug. 28-29 at Park Square, Paola.

• Smokin’ Behind the Barn will be Sept. 4-5 at Winfield’s Quail Valley, 9313 194th Drive.

• Mission’s third annual Battle of the Brisket will be Sept. 18-19. The competition is open to all barbecue levels and usually features about 60 competitors. Amy Richards, barbecue coordinator, said Kansas has a special pull for barbecue.

“It’s the heart of barbecue,” she said. “People have high expectations, and they are really very ambitious in meeting those expectations.”

• The Blues and Barbeque Shawnee Great Grillers at Shawnee Town is set for Sept. 25-26.

All of these competitions are registered as State Championships, which means the winner of these competitions, and of dozens of others across the state and the country, qualify to compete in the biggest barbecue competition of them all: the American Royal.

• The Royal BBQ contest will be Oct. 1-4 at Kemper Arena/American Royal Complex, 1701 American Royal Court, Kansas City, Mo. The contest features two competitions: an invitational with an expected 100 entrants and an open competition with at least 500 entrants.

Jim McNair, president of American Royal, said the event’s opening party Friday night brings in a crowd of about 60,000 people, features more than 80 bands and goes through 900 kegs of beer.

For more information on barbecue events this summer, visit the Kansas City Barbecue Society Web site at www.kcbs.us.