West Tennessee
World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest
The barbecue contest at the center of Memphis in May, on the new riverfront.
Teams from around the country cook pork on the Mississippi at Tom Lee Park. The public side is smoke, blues bands, and a river breeze. Mornings are calmer. The rest of Memphis in May — the music festival and the sunset symphony — sits on neighboring weekends. Confirm the 2027 weekend; the contest usually lands just before Memorial Day.
With children
Strollers work on the park paths. It is a cooking contest, not a playground, but children do fine for a few hours.