Where There’s Smoke...

To call Frisco’s annual Colorado BBQ Challenge a regular three-ring circus would be putting it lightly: The action at the three-day food fest never stops, although the main attraction is, and always will be, the barbecue, which you can taste in copious amounts from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday along Main Street between First and Fourth Avenues. But also swirling around the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned meat market will be hourly Swifty Swine pig races, Salida Circus performances, roving buskers, live music, vendor booths and cooking demos hosted by C.J. Jacobsen of Bravo’s Top Chef.

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More About

• Jake Norris
• C.J. Jacobsen
• Kansas City Barbecue Society
• Food and Cooking
• Barbecuing and Grilling

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Before any of that, however, the weekend kicks off tonight with a pre-party and concert by Hot Buttered Rum from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on the Music Stage at Fifth and Main streets. And there’s more: For a more VIP experience away from the hoi polloi in the street, you’re invited to sign up for an exclusive Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Rub It, Smoke It, Sip It Tour, during which Stranahan’s head distiller Jake Norris will lead foodies on a behind-the-scenes look at the fest’s best cooks and their barbecuing secrets. At $100 a head, the tour seems pricey, but, oh, the places you’ll go!

All other activities are free; food tickets go for $1 each. “It’s a gorgeous day and a great excuse to get up to the mountains,” notes spokeswoman Korisa Geiger. For all the details, go to www.friscobbq.com.
June 16-18, 2011