Chicagoland list of competitions for all levels.

cmohr74

cmohr74

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Hey everyone, I'm a new competition barbequer in the chicagoland area. I find it difficult to find events for a newcomer that won't burn a hole in my pocket entry fee wise or that I won't have to drive too far to get to. I have researched events for a while now and this is what I have found. I'm asking others to correct what I found or contribute to the list. Some of these are simple backyard events, some are all in KCBS events, doesn't matter; just looking for options. Some of these were last years events so the dates were an estimate.
Red, White, & BBQ May 25th-27th Westmont
Annual Milk Days May 28th Harvard, IL
Milk Cow Annual Fest June1st-2nd Fair Oaks, IN
Poorque June 8th-9th Monticello, WI
Smokin’ in the Park June 8th-9th Leroy, IL
Smokin on the River June 16th-17th Franklin, IN
Enshrinement Festival Ribs July 20th (Fri) South Bend, IN
Morton BBQ Throwdown July 27th-28th Morton, IL
Illinois BBQ Festival July 28th-29th Orion, IL
Grillin in Grafton Aug. 18th-19th Grafton, WI
Grill Games Aug. 24th-25th Kenosha, WI
Throwdown on the River Sept. 1st-2nd Dubuque, IA
Glen Ellyn Backyard BBQ Sept. 8th (?) Glen Ellyn, IL
Forest Park Ribfest Sept. 8th (?) Forest Park, IL
Apple BBQ Festival Sept. 8th-9th Mears, MI
Murphysboro BBQ Sept. 20th-22nd Murphysboro, IL
Barn Burner Oct. 12th-13th Libertyville, IL
Central Illinois Bragging Rights Oct. 12th-13th Arthur, IL
 
The one in Franklin, IN is on 6/22 & 6/23. And it's called "Smoke On the Square". I assume that's the one you mean, but it's sure NOT in the Chicagoland area!

Check out the KCBS website for a current list of all registered events.
 
It may not be it the chicagoland area, but its an option for some in the chicago area to drive e to. Most competitions for someone like me are in southern, IL 4+ hours away. Just listing all options within a radius of chicago. Thank you for the correction though. I think I gathered that info from last year and just guessed which weekend it would carry over to.
 
Here's a couple you might have missed ...

UP Hog Wild - Kingsford, MI 7/20-21
Auburn Hills,MI 6/22-23

There are also usually a number of them in the Grand Rapids MI area, I don't see many announced yet for this year, but they'll likely pop up. You might want to look into the Great Lakes BBQ Association for more info.

Kingsford is a haul, but it's a great contest! Great freindly organizers, nice venue. We are unable to make it this year, but hope to return next year.

There is a new one up in WI this year that should be a lot of fun - Deaths Door BBQ on Washington Island, at the northern end of Door County, unfortunately the same weekend and Kenosha grill games.
 
Also the Sam's club local qualifier is in Madison and the regional is in Rockford. Also I see where Davenport, IA has a contest this year. Maybe another one to consider is State Center, IA since it's a Sat/Sun contest. Lincoln, IL just south of Springfield has a contest also the same weekend as Kenosha.
 
MI judges love Chicago style BBQ so you should look in to coming up to Grand Rapids or Silver Lake.

Grand Rapids is nice but Scottie has them all in his pocket. Silver Lake I think is the best ran competition in the State.
 
MI has some of the best, next to the Jack Daniel's, judges out there. Except the Sam's Series has terrible judges.... ;)

And I agree about Silver Lake. I've only missed one, when I headed to MA for a new state. Otherwise I dont miss the contest. Perfect setting and Jeff and crew do an awesome job of taking care of the cooks. I just wish he would quit putting me by QUAU. They are way too loud...
 
Last edited:
SuperQue said:
Also the Sam's club local qualifier is in Madison and the regional is in Rockford. Also I see where Davenport, IA has a contest this year. Maybe another one to consider is State Center, IA since it's a Sat/Sun contest. Lincoln, IL just south of Springfield has a contest also the same weekend as Kenosha.
Click to expand...

Lincoln, Il is north of Springfield about 30 miles not south. A little closer if your coming from Chicago area.

Antohter one is Litchfield, Il which is about 45 miles South of Springfield. I beleive its going to be in the middle of Sept.

These are both KCBS
 
Stoke&Smoke said:
Here's a couple you might have missed ...

UP Hog Wild - Kingsford, MI 7/20-21
Auburn Hills,MI 6/22-23

There are also usually a number of them in the Grand Rapids MI area, I don't see many announced yet for this year, but they'll likely pop up. You might want to look into the Great Lakes BBQ Association for more info.

Kingsford is a haul, but it's a great contest! Great freindly organizers, nice venue. We are unable to make it this year, but hope to return next year.

There is a new one up in WI this year that should be a lot of fun - Deaths Door BBQ on Washington Island, at the northern end of Door County, unfortunately the same weekend and Kenosha grill games.[/QUOT

Kingsford is one of our favorite contests. I sure hated seeing the folks on Washington Island jump on top of Kenosha .We dont have that many contests here in Wi . I guess we are going to have to make a choice for that weekend.And from what I have heard there will be another Montello contest the weekend after Labor Day at one of the other campgrounds.
Click to expand...
 
Also I forgot they have a rib contest in Lodi in Sept but I have no idea on the date .It usually has a KCBS type judged and a peoples choice.
 
I agree, we're limited in how many we can do this year, but we visited Kenosha last year and it looked like a great venue. I met the organizer of the Deaths Door comp at a judges class in Westmont earlier this year. Wish I'd known it was the same weekend, I'd have suggested he move it.

It sounds like they have a lot of cool stuff planned, but Kenosha is really easy access for us, so hoping to make that one!​
 
Stoke&Smoke said:
I agree, we're limited in how many we can do this year, but we visited Kenosha last year and it looked like a great venue. I met the organizer of the Deaths Door comp at a judges class in Westmont earlier this year. Wish I'd known it was the same weekend, I'd have suggested he move it.​



It sounds like they have a lot of cool stuff planned, but Kenosha is really easy access for us, so hoping to make that one!​
Click to expand...


We did Kenosha last year and I think other then a few very small first time contest snafu's they did a nice job. For me it was a typical I cooked ok but nothing stood out contest, seemed to be the theme for 2011 :redface::tsk::tsk::rolleyes:
 
I see on the KCBS site they added the other Montello contest with a tentative date of Sept 7-8
 
Stoke&Smoke said:
Wish I'd known it was the same weekend, I'd have suggested he move it.
​
Click to expand...


I did suggest that he move it as soon as it was posted but he said he couldn't it's tied into a festival of some sort.

It's a shame since it does sound like fun, but it's hard to pass up a comp that's 90 minutes from home that was pretty good last year.
​
 
Same spot as last year Ron? I'll stay in the same one...

I talked with the organizer of the Door County contest at the CBJ class in Westmont. It is tied to an event and it can't be moved. Shame that both were approved. Not sure how many cook teams they think are in With or even teams coming from Northern Illinois. But one will suffer.
 
Hopefully they'll change the Deaths Door one next year. Would love to do it, but as Ron said, Kenosha is just too close to pass up, and it was fun, even if we were only there as observers.
 
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