photo by: Frank Perez

Competitors with Café Que from Holton prepare a submission during the Baldwin City Recreation Commission's 2022 Smoke on the Bricks barbecue contest.

Though the city that many locals might argue deserves the title of barbecue capital of the United States is just a few miles down the road, people in Lawrence soon won’t even have to travel that far to get their fix thanks to one event taking place in Douglas County before summer’s end.

Baldwin City for five years has hosted the annual Smoke on the Bricks barbecue contest, and the 2023 edition is taking place next weekend. It’s not just a tasting opportunity for barbecue connoisseurs but also serious business for the 43 competitors signed up as of Friday — the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned competition is a qualifying event for contests like the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, which is recognized as the largest barbecue competition in the world, drawing hundreds of teams and tens of thousands of spectators to the Kansas Speedway.

This contest is of a bit smaller scale, though, along the brick-paved streets of downtown Baldwin City. Matt McClure, the Baldwin City Recreation Commission’s director, brought the event to town for the first time in 2019. McClure told the Journal-World earlier this month that in the years since, the event has ballooned in scale.

“In terms of crowd participation, we probably had 800 people show up that first year,” McClure said. “This year, we’re expecting around 2,500 that Friday night to come out and take part … For a community of like 4,800 to have (that many) people come out, it says a lot. But at the same time, those aren’t just Baldwin City residents — we’re pulling people from surrounding communities and surrounding counties to come and check it out as well.”

photo by: Frank Perez

The streets of downtown Baldwin City are filled with plenty of foot traffic during the Baldwin City Recreation Commission’s 2022 Taste of Baldwin City event, which is part of the commission’s annual Smoke on the Bricks barbecue contest.

The weekend is broken into two halves, with Friday’s “Taste of Baldwin City” kicking things off. Friday’s festivities are more community-focused and revolve around spending “BBQ Bucks,” the only currency that’ll be accepted by the vendors who will be stationed along the street serving up food from 6 to 8 p.m.

The general public can begin purchasing BBQ Bucks starting Monday, Aug. 21 at the Baldwin City Recreation Commission Office at 705 High St., and they’ll also be sold on site during the event until vendors run out of stock. An FAQ on the Recreation Commission’s website suggests purchasing $10 in BBQ Bucks per person.

“Then, you can go to certain vendors, certain barbecue teams, who are willing to participate and want to sell food that night, and you can purchase barbecue from those particular teams that are participating in Taste of Baldwin City,” McClure said. “On average, we’ll get 12 to 20 teams who want to vend on that Friday night.”

That group includes at least 13 participating teams this time around, and if past years are any indication, even more of them might need to come on board to meet the anticipated demand. In the event’s first year back in 2019, McClure said the eight vendors who served food all sold out — six of them within the first 45 minutes.

A portion of 2023 revenues will be donated to the Baldwin Education Foundation, which helps to secure financial support for students in the Baldwin City school district, and the barbecue team that collects the most BBQ Bucks will earn an additional award as the winner of Taste of Baldwin City. Each team that sells food Friday will also receive a check for 90% of what they collect.

Friday will also include some live music, including a two-hour set from Pyromaniacs, a Def Leppard tribute band.

“We’re going to draw your hair band music fans as well as your barbecue fans this year, so we’re excited for that,” McClure said.

Saturday, however, is all about the barbecue contest. The schedule for the day is mostly filled with deadlines for competitors to submit their entries in categories like chicken, ribs and brisket, and the people tasting those entries will be certified judges.

photo by: Jacob Walters

A team member with the Lenexa-based 3 Legs and a Pig team pulls a rack of ribs off the smoker during the 2022 Smoke on the Bricks barbecue contest.

The teams will be competing for a portion of $13,000 in prize money, which in part is split among the top 10 overall entries and the top 10 in most individual categories.

“When you think of barbecue contests, most people think ‘I can just come down and eat barbecue and hang out,'” McClure said. “That’s not necessarily the case. The sport of barbecue is a pretty serious deal for a lot of these guys who compete, so when they come to compete, they’re cooking for the ‘turn-in’ and points through the (Kansas City Barbecue Society) ranking system and things like that.”

Calling it a “sport” is no mistake, McClure said — there’s real strategy to turning in samples for judging. Not only are competitors putting together the best-tasting submission they can, they’re also aiming to prepare something that’s aesthetically pleasing, down to the garnishes.

The competitors so far are mostly from Kansas — including two out of Lawrence. But there are also three teams from the Kansas City, Missouri, area, and even teams from Texas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Though not joining the group of teams serving up food to the public during Taste of Baldwin City, last year’s “grand champion,” the popular Slap’s BBQ from Kansas City, Kansas, is returning to defend its title on Saturday.

It’s been routine for the contest to be a draw for teams from far and wide, McClure said.

“We have teams from all over the Midwest — all over the country, really — that come in,” McClure said. “But for the most part, your vendors are from the region, from Kansas, Kansas City, Holton, this general area.”

A full list of competing teams and more information about Smoke on the Bricks is available on the Baldwin City Recreation Commission’s website.