Best Annual Festival — Mountains

This annual celebration of hickory-smoked meats and serious sauce (sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society) is the high country’s best family-style blowout. Visitors sample ‘cue from more than seventy of the nation’s best grill and smoker masters, making the array of meat and sauce choices finger-lickin’ heaven on earth. Sides of down-home, kid-friendly entertainment, a pancake breakfast and Frisco’s homespun setting (and dreamy August weather) add even more sustenance to the event. Need a reason to head to the hills? This is it.