PHOTO: Courtesy Don’t Be Cruel Festival
TUPELO, Miss.–Imagine the smell of delicious barbecue hanging in the air. Now imagine the smell of over 100 teams cooking beef, chicken and pork. You can follow that delectable scent all the way to Tupelo for the fourth annual Don’t Be Cruel Barbecue Duel, starting Friday.
It’s live music and barbecue cooking all day Friday and Saturday.
“This is a sanctioned event,” said Neil McCoy, with the Tupelo Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “This is sanctioned with the Kansas City Barbecue Society.”
McCoy said Tupelo is very serious about the competition and that the sanctioned events mean business.
They’ll give away $15,000 in prizes for the best barbecue.
“Our judges have to be certified. They go through training.”
McCoy said that because of the rules, you won’t be able to buy barbecue from the competitors, but there will be a local guy with a tent and some excellent barbecue for you to buy.
It’s in downtown Tupelo, directly in front of City Hall.