Do you love good barbecue? A dry rub delight or smothered in sauce? Here’s your chance to cut to the chase, and try all kinds of delicious cuts of meat at an epic all-you-can eat event! Ribs, brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork, turkey, chicken, and more.

Photo credit: KC Rib Fest

By Peg Cameron Gill

Grab your buds—and your taste buds too—and head to Feast on the Field At GEHA field at Arrowhead. With more than 30,000 pounds of delicious smoked meat, KC BBQ Fest promises to leave you salivating and satiated!

Primo pitmasters from across Missouri—and even Texas and Kansas—will be showing off their grill skills. They represent a broad array of barbecue joints, including Jesse’s BBQ, Arthur Bryant’s, The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint, Joe’s Kansas Bar-B-Que, Buck Tui BBQ, and more. If you spring for a VIP ticket, you’ll get to sample barbecue from even more grilling greats.

Speaking of tickets, here’s the deal: Friday, June 23 from 5–9 PM is a VIP event, requiring a VIP ticket. Saturday, June 24, there will be two general admission time slots to choose from: 11–3  PM and 4–8 PM.

A 3-Hour General Admission pass includes: All-you-can-eat BBQ with drinks available for purchase.

A 4-Hour VIP pass means: You beat the rush! Get in an hour early to enjoy premium VIP-only samples, cocktails, specialty BBQ, and exclusive access to the Chiefs’ locker room. This ticket also includes unlimited drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) from our VIP-only bar for the full 4 hours.

Festival goers ages 13–20 will need a ticket (specially priced) to enter the festival. Kids 12 and under are free. Everyone that comes to the fest will enjoy an all-you-can-eat experience, and drinks are available for purchase. Learn more about tickets here.

Photo credit: KC Rib Fest

As if fantastic food wasn’t enough, the fest offers even more than “meats” the eye. Enjoy live music, BBQ demos, and a riveting Rib Rumble. On Saturday, June 23, at 1 PM, you can get the chance to compete against other BBQ behemoths to see who can stuff the most rib meat into their mouth in a 5-minute heat (by weight). The winner will receive a custom RIBS23 Chiefs Jersey, two Pit Passes to the KC BBQ Festival in 2024, and a chance to compete at the 2024 KC BBQ Fest Rib Rumble. Not up for the challenge? You can always watch and cheer on your chosen champ. 

Don’t miss out On this mega meat eating event. 

Hungry to learn more about BBQ in Missouri? Check out this article.

For hundreds more events, visit Missouri Life’s Event Calendar.