This past weekend, I attended the 20th annual Safeway Barbecue Battle (http://www.bbqdc.com/) downtown. Coming from North Carolina, I love barbecue so I was excited to be able to attend the Safeway Barbecue Battle! The festival was held downtown on Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 14th streets. You could see the Capitol down on end of Pennsylvania Ave and the White House on the other. The festival featured a giant sampling pavilion covering several city blocks. The sampling pavilion had hot dogs, steak, watermelon, salads, lemonade, teas, chips, sweet potato fries, “sloppy joes,” cooking demonstrations, and much much more. Here is a chef setting up for a cooking demonstration.
Setting up a cooking demo
I had not eaten lunch when I arrived and just turned the sampling pavilion into my lunch because there was so much food. So many other people were doing the same thing I was so the line was quite long.
People waiting in line at the sampling pavilion
See just how big the sampling pavilion was…
However, the food was worth the wait. The also had a giant restaurant section where local DC barbecue restaurants were serving food. The History Channel featured their ultimate smoker and grill (http://theultimatesmokerandgrill.com/) at the festival. They were cooking chicken sausages and handing them out. The sun-dried tomato and basil chicken sausage was quite delicious!
History Channel’s Ultimate Smoker and Grill
The festival also featured booths from many other groups including the Washington Nationals, NBA Nation and many others. I just walked around and collected tons of free goodies! I also stopped to catch several different bands on several different stages.
I caught some good music…
…and some more good music
The festival was a lot of fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the food (though, no barbecue beats Carolina barbecue) and I’m looking forward to going back next year. Hope y’all all continue to have a great summer!
-Nathan
AU Ambassadors 