By Adam Bianco
National BBQ Month in May is getting an early start. On April 27 in Kansas City, Smithfield Foods will look to set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Grilling Lesson ever.
It’s no coincidence the Virginia-based company chose Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium for the venue. The city, well known for their BBQ, has a legendary tailgate scene with the smell of brisket, ribs and more in the air on game days. Smithfield also enlisted the help of Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones.
Jones, a second-round pick in 2016, will be on hand to serve as the third pitmaster for the festivities alongside veterans Chris Lilly and Kevin Kolman. The 300-pounder will replace Pro Bowler Dontari Poe as the starter at defensive tackle after Poe made his way to Super Bowl runners-up Atlanta Falcons in free agency.
The other two pitmasters aren’t slouches either. Known as the spokesman for Kingsford Charcoal, Chris Lilly made his claim to fame as the pitmaster for the famous Big Bob Gibson BBQ. Founded in Alabama in 1925, Gibsons BBQ is hailed for creating their own BBQ sauce, the Alabama White BBQ. Lilly also holds several championship medals from the Memphis in May BBQ competitions.
On the other side is Kevin Kolman, spokesman and grill master for Weber Grill. Along with being the envy of every tailgate, Kolman spends much of his time judging competitions and teaching classes. He is co-instructing the class Barbecue Science at Ohio State, attending Camp Brisket at Texas A&M, and routinely teaches his craft around the world. He also appears on a countless number of Food Network, CBS, and other network shows.
With all of this star power behind the event, Smithfield looks to set the following records:
- This record is for the greatest number of people attending and participating in a barbecue/grilling lesson at a single venue.
- This record is to be attempted by a group of unlimited size.
- This record is measured by the number of people who actively participate in the lesson.
- Smithfield is hoping for at least 250 people to participate.
The event is free to the public and food will be provided by Smithfield which makes it a bit of a no-brainer for BBQ lovers in Kansas City (the entire city). You can register for tickets here.
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About the Author
Adam Bianco is the Chief Marketing Officer for Tide Spin, the new on-demand laundry and dry cleaning delivery app from Tide and P&G. During his previous professional stops at hospitality industry innovators, the G.R.E.A.T. Grille Group and Levy Restaurants, he collaborated with some of the world’s top brands, Harley Davidson, Disney, American Girl, Chicago Cubs, NFL teams, and Hall of Fame athletes. Last year he ran his own successful digital marketing consulting company before joining Tide Spin.
Adam is also an avid sports and food fan which inspired him to start his side hustles. Sports Foodie (thesportsfoodie.com) highlights the best stadium, sports restaurants, and industry news. It launched just over a year ago garnering thousands of monthly visitors and has over 21,000 followers on Instagram. He also owns and operates the world’s largest Ohio State football Twitter account (@OhioStFootball) with over 275,000 followers.
