It's that time of the year again, the Safeway National BBQ Battle is back again! This year is the 20th Anniversary and our third year judging. We've been attending for longer and one of the great things about this competition is due to its amazing location (smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave...White House in one direction and U.S. Capitol in the other) it has the ability to bring in a lot of people that would otherwise never go to a BBQ Competition and capture the imagination of someone that just likes BBQ from time to time, and turns them into an aspiring BBQ aficionado, judge, or competition cook.
Now to be fair, there are a decent amount of people that don't come for the BBQ but come to enjoy the games, music, and general festive atmosphere. So here is a general run down of some of the highlights that we think makes it worth your while to come down June 23-24.
Food:
- Unless you are judging, know some folks on a team, or have really pretty eyes you likely won't get to try any of the competition BBQ that is being cooked up for the judges. However there is an excellent selection of BBQ to purchase on "Restaurant Row". If you are wondering what to try, we can recommend Pork Barrel BBQ, Hill Country BBQ, and Memphis BBQ. All three have local locations and Pork Barrel BBQ and Memphis BBQ are local stores (non chain), so if you get hooked they have locations you can go to for your fix.
Music:
- Throughout the weekend there will be plenty of musical acts on multiple stages to enjoy. Three to highlight include Cowboy Mouth, Soul Asylum, and the Chuck Brown Tribute Band. In all there will be 30 bands on 3 stages over the weekend.
Other:
- Also if you have kids, there are plenty of special attractions like the NBA Nation and Jump Works.
So come on down to Pennsylvania Avenue June 23rd and 24th and enjoy the 20th Safeway National BBQ Battle. We will also be live tweeting much of our experience in and out of the judging booth, so follow along @BeltwayBBQ and we hope to see you out there!
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