American Royal BBQ 2010 - Tickets for Kansas City

American Royal BBQ 2010 - Tickets for Kansas City, Bands, Entertainment, Info

A lot has changed in recent years regarding Kansas City's biggest BBQ contest. For those of you who have never been, the American Royal BBQ contest is a giant grid of private parties who are entered in the BBQ competition. It's basically like a bunch of little backyard BBQ parties, except they're spread out across Kemper Arena parking lot in little squares. Now, in the old days, if you weren't invited to one of the parties, you didn't eat or drink and you just basically paid $10 to walk around and smell everyone's food. In the years of late that has changed and you can now purchase great barbecue and drinks out on the main concourse.

American Royal BBQ 2010 Entertainment
Most of the private parties have their own entertainment, from live bands to DJs, and there is also a main stage that is open to the public. For the 2010 American Royal BBQ the main stage will feature Liverpool - a Tribute to The Beatles. If you haven't seen these guys you should check them out, they do an authentic Beatles tribute down to the last detail. Last year the main stage was rockin' with an awesome line up of Brody Buster followed by headliners The KC All Stars. The live music on the main stage is followed by a great fireworks show.

American Royal BBQ Tickets
Looking for tickets? Just click on the link above to purchase tickets to either Friday night's American Royal BBQ or you can also purchase tickets for Saturday's American Royal BBQ 2010.

2009 American Royal BBQ Contest Winners

Best Overall - "Pork Pullin' Plowboys" - 1st Place

Best Chicken - "Smoke This BBQ" 1st Place

Best Pork - "Caveman Quisine" 1st Place

Best Ribs - "Pig In! Pig Out!" 1st Place

Best Brisket - "Pork Pullin' Plowboys" 1st Place

Best Sauce on the Planet Award - Grandma Foster's Smooth & Spicy

American Royal BBQ Sauce Store People’s Choice Awards

People’s Choice Marinade/Baste - Buster's Blueberry Barbecue Sauce

People’s Choice Rub - Real Texas -- Original/p>

People’s Choice Sauce - Blues Hog Tennessee Blues Sauce

Man, after writing this blog, I've gotta go get some BBQ! I prefer Jack Stack BBQ on Holmes Road but actually the other day I was amazed at how awesome the ribs were at J. Alexander's of all places! Those ribs are smackin' good! Hope to see you all at The American Royal BBQ 2010 on Friday and Saturday - bring your appetite.

Kansas International Film Festival Opens This Weekend

The Kansas International Film Festival opens this weekend, running from October 1 through October 7. The festival is entering its 10th year, and was recently added to Moviemaker Magazine's list of "25 film festivals worth the entry fee." The Kansas International Film Festival, or KIFF, should be even more enticing for movie fans this year. The festival will feature several big-budget hollywood films that will be screened here before being released to the general public.

Due to the success of previous festivals as well as involving some big budget films, the event has seen a dramatic rise in tickets sold. However, there are still tickets available for the event including a pass that allows guests access to the entire festival. KIFF will be taking place at Glenwood Arts Theatre.

Some movies to watch out for are "Black Swan" which stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis and "Conviction" starring Hillary Swank. KIFF is best known for quality documentaries, and this year is no different.

Tickets for the event can be found here.

American Royal Barbecue Fires Up Today

American Royal Barbecue Fires Up Today

The 31st Annual American Royal Barbecue starts Thursday and continues through this Sunday October 3rd. Known as the "World Series of Barbecue" the American Royal is the largest Barbecue competition in the world! There are over 500 contestants in several different categories including brisket, ribs, sauce, dessert and many others. The event is open to the public starting Friday. Tickets are $13 and kids under 5 are free.

Activities include live music - with all the local favorites - such as Blues artists Samantha Fish and Trampled Under Foot. Tribute bands to Lynard Skynard, Journey, and The Beatles will also perform. You can check out a schedule of Live entertainment here. Of course there will be a Kids Fun Fest Area with activities for the children including a petting zoo. you can sample Barbecue and have a couple of beers as well. A Texas Hold-em Tournament will also be held Saturday night at 7PM. A $65 donation is required to participate in the poker tournament, you can register here. And with no Chiefs game (or Missouri Tigers, not that they would be on TV anyway) this weekend, it will give you something to do on Saturday and Sunday.

Miami Heat Sprint Center Kansas City NBA Game News

Miami Heat at The Sprint Center in Kansas City NBA Game October 8th

NBA basketball hits Kansas City next Friday October 8th at The Sprint Center when The Miami Heat take on The Oklahoma City Thunder.  Yes, that's right, I said The Oklahoma City Thunder - appearantly they have an NBA team.  Anyway, this will be a very big night at The Power and Light District in downtown KC and if you're coming in from out of town you'd better reserve your hotel rooms now.

The most exciting thing for most at this event will be watching the Miami Heat "SuperFriends" LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh mop up the court with the poor Oklahoma High School team or whoever they are.  I'm pretty sure that this game will be over by the first period.   The story behind The Miami Heat is that they came into the 2010 NBA season with 45 million dollars in their salary cap pocket ready to spend money on big players.  With this giant wad of cash they were able to keep star player Dwayne Wade and the add LeBron James and Chris Bosh.  LeBron James made a mockery of the Cleveland Cavaliers when he televised his decision to go to Miami, turning the decision into a media frenzy.  LeBron signed for a mere $110 Million and Wade and Bosh both signed for a measly $107 Million. - Kansas City News

I have to think of the New York Yankees when I think of the Miami Heat as they have both pretty much bought their way to the top.  The NBA, like the MLB is already pretty one sided as far as the teams go, but hopefully it won't get as bad as the MLB.  Coming from a city like Kansas City it's difficult to watch our poor Royals struggle because our owners would rather build a shiny fancy new stadium that is pretty much like a giant BAR now than to spend money on actual players - or at least keep around the good ones.  Just think, in 1985 when the Royals won the World Series the highest paid player on the team only made $1 Million per year (George Brett) and winning series pitcher Bret Saberhagen only made around $800,000.  Times, they are a changing'. - Kansas City News

Tickets for the Miami Heat game at the Sprint Center in Kansas City are on sale at Ticketmaster, and if you want some really incredible tickets, visit the cranky guy at the Sports Memorabilia Store at Oak Park Mall - he's probably got a couple floor seats for around $750 a pair.  After the game The Power and Light District is featuring live music from local Kansas City favorite dance band "The KC All Stars" at 10pm.

Kansas City Economy Continues to Struggle

Recent reports indicate that while the US economy is slowly getting better, Kansas City is still struggling. Employment is down by 1.4% compared to last year, andthere are more active job seekers as a whole. The report did indicate that experts expect job prospects to improve soon, so hopefully we see a rebound in the near future.

While Kansas City is struggling, some cities nearby are doing well. Both Manhattan, KS and St. Joesph, MO have seen an increase in employment. The demographics of Kansas City could be to blame, or it could merely be a coincidence that these other areas are improving. However, it seems odd that smaller cities are getting better while the area with the most jobs and job opportunities continues to struggle.

The Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area, Boston, MA and Austin, TX had the best improvement in the nation. It is important for Kansas City to examine how these cities have created job and fought unemployment rates. The ratio of job-seekers and open jobs continues to be extreme in Kansas City, and soon residents of the city may have to check out greener pastures elsewhere.