As September turns to October in Kansas City, we all start to get ready for The American Royal.  The American Royal is many things.  It is a parade, a BBQ contest, livestock show, a rodeo and a series of concerts containing some up and coming music acts.  The American Royal is Kansas City’s biggest showcase event.  The BBQ contest which contains both an invitational contest for this years Grand Champion BBQ contest winners and an open contest that anyone can enter. All of these events help raise money for charity and scholarships for future college students.  It all adds up to one heck of a weekend in Kansas City.

This year I will have the pleasure of covering some of the events happening at The American Royal this year for Draper’s BBQ.  I will be roaming around the grounds meeting all my Twitter/Facebook friends for the first time.  Hopefully sampling some of what they have turned in and sharing a beverage or 2 with them.  I will also be on hand as an episode of Season 4 of BBQ Pitmasters is taped in Kansas City.  KC’s own Rod Gray of Pellet Envy fame will be the heavy hitter on the show challenged by 2 other local cooks.  It should make for some must see TV.  Saturday night the first ever BBQ Hall of Fame ceremony will be held and Johnny Trigg, Guy Fieri and Henry Ford (inventor if the charcoal briquette) will be inducted into the BBQ Hall of Fame.  Friday is always party night at The Royal.  It has been estimated that 100,000 to 150,000 people will flock to The Royal for multiple parties that go well into the night.  There is even an award for the best party of the year.  I usually tend stay away from thisnight as traffic is terrible (they usually have to close the streets around the area by 7pm) and some people tend to overindulge, if you know what I mean.  A lot of the serious BBQ teams stay away from this as well and are placed in a separate section of the parking lot.  Some of the lesser known activities at The American Royal are The Kids Q contest called the Junior World Series of BBQ, Best Sauce contest, and a Texas Hold’em tournament.  All of these events make for a really fun week in Kansas City.

I would love to meet any Draper’s BBQ fans and sponsored teams while you are in town for the Royal.  Follow me on Twitter, my handle is @qsyourdaddy and either send me a tweet or if I follow you back DM me where you are and we can meet up.