Sparks NV, Nugget Rib Cook-off Tips?

Hi everyone new guy here.
Im hopeing to go tho the Nugget Rib Cook-off in sparks NV sep. 2-sep. 7 for a couple of days. i was woundering what tips you guys might have for someone thats never been. some questions that i have are:
1. whats the best days to go? At the start of at the end. Well be going for about 1.5 days. Me and the fam.
2. Where to stay? were staying in boomtown for one night i think butand its $100 a night we might stay closer if with your help we get a good tip
3.What should we not miss? cooking demos the kids area booth or whatever you think???
4. Is the kids area that good or just so-so? AS in how long will it take for the kids to see the whole thing?
5. Any other resteraunts that in sparks year round that are good??
6. anything around sparks not bbq worth driving to?
Thanks for you help. Just let me know what its like or what ever!
ED

Sparks Rib Cookoff

My wife and I were in Sparks last year at the Rib Cookoff through the whole event. FANTASTIC time!
Best days to go - If you can, I would say early in the event like Wed or Thursday due to the holiday weekend and the throngs of people who show up. I believe that the event opens at 11am and closes promptly at 9pm. It really gets packed later in the evening and would not be a fun place to be with kids.
Check with the Nugget - they run some deals and are right there. If you are a KCBS member, there is a choice hotel that you can get a discount at right down the street.
What not to miss - checking out the vendor/craft area as they have a little bit of everything. The kids area is big and looks like a fun time. Take some time to check out all the cook teams - it really is a presentation! Each cook team fixes 500-600 racks of ribs a day. There ain't no bad ribs in Reno (Sparks). There are a couple of cooking demo's on the East side of the grounds - KCBS BBQ Tour grilling demo's and Southern Living demo's.
While in Sparks - go check out the Nevada BBQ Co. They also have a cooking booth at the event which is BJ's.
Mike