What to Know
- Long Beach BBQ Festival is on May 25 at Shoreline Aquatic Park
- The Smorgasburg BBQ Invitational at Santa Anita Park heats the grills from May 25-27; $30 ticket packages and up
- The Summer Corgi Nationals will run at Santa Anita on May 26
A tangy tomato sauce slathered on just the right cut of meat can address a hearty hankering at any point on the calendar.
But when summer is at the doorway, and all of the enticing opportunities to dine outdoors seem to be multiplying? Those hankerings have a way of increasing, as do our longings to sit grill-adjacent and ponder whether we're more of a rub, sauce, or nothing-added-at-all barbecue buff.
Plenty of rib-seeking, chop-craving meat mavens will want to ask just those appetite-stoking questions as they make their way to Long Beach and/or Arcadia over Memorial Day Weekend.
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For not one but two fire-up-the-bricks bashes will be upping that saucy summer aura, the one that reminds us not to wear our favorite shirt. Or, better yet: Wear our shirt that is already well-sauced and well-spiced from barbecue seasons gone by.
The 2nd Annual Long Beach BBQ Festival lines up the plates at Shoreline Aquatic Park on May 25. Whiskey tastings, a chili showdown for amateur cooks, and live tunes are on the roster.
As for who will be wielding the tongs and brushes? Brother's Keeper BBQ, Robert Earl's BBQ, and several other barbecue pros will be on the ocean-close grounds with lots to savor in tow.
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On the other side of our region, or at least a solid drive to the northeast? There is the Smorgasburg BBQ Invitational at Santa Anita Park.
This three-day celebration will focus on all sorts of buzzy BBQ vendors; one will be selected for a permanent spot at the weekly ROW DTLA food market.
But again, this Smorgasburg LA event isn't happening downtown; you'll want to make for Arcadia to try out these great barbecue makers, and see if you can figure out who will be selected for the coveted spot.
California BBQ, Guam BBQ, Mexican BBQ, and a kaleidoscope of flavors and styles will be represented.
If you have your own barbecues to attend over Memorial Day Weekend and are thus too booked to call upon a BBQ festival, look to the summer and more sizzling celebrations around Southern California. The BBQ Music Fest, which will feature a showdown between pitmasters and locals, heats up in Huntington Beach in August.
