Deepest contest
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
455
average field across every edition
🥇 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Set Sep 30, 2026
- How 4 editions · biggest 505
- Standing held outright
- Qualifying contests with 3 scored editions or more
- Scope national, and available by state on the record book
The top 25
| # | Contest | Average field across every edition | Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 4 editions · biggest 505 |
455 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| 2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest 4 editions · biggest 249 |
201 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| 3 | Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship 4 editions · biggest 184 |
183 | Jun 24, 2016 |
| 4 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 6 editions · biggest 183 |
164 | Jun 26, 2026 |
| 5 | Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship 7 editions · biggest 114 |
103 | Sep 23, 2022 |
| 6 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitation Barbecue (JUDGES FULL) 5 editions · biggest 102 |
96 | Oct 26, 2018 |
| 7 | Smoke in the Spring (OPEN FORMAT) 13 editions · biggest 109 |
95 | Apr 10, 2026 |
| 8 | Dana Point State BBQ Championship 3 editions · biggest 99 |
90 | Oct 7, 2016 |
| 9 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) 6 editions · biggest 99 |
90 | Oct 9, 2026 |
| 10 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 3 editions · biggest 99 |
86 | Sep 12, 2025 |
| 11 | SC Festival of Discovery 8 editions · biggest 90 |
85 | Jul 9, 2021 |
| 12 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 10 editions · biggest 125 |
82 | Mar 20, 2026 |
| 13 | Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival 4 editions · biggest 97 |
81 | Jun 10, 2016 |
| 14 | The National BBQ Cup ( Day 2) 3 editions · biggest 86 |
80 | Nov 20, 2015 |
| 15 | South Carolina Festival of Discovery 5 editions · biggest 92 |
77 | Jul 9, 2026 |
| 16 | City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival 4 editions · biggest 89 |
73 | Sep 3, 2016 |
| 17 | Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge 3 editions · biggest 80 |
71 | May 8, 2015 |
| 18 | Boo-B-Que 3 editions · biggest 73 |
70 | Oct 19, 2018 |
| 19 | Shawnee Great Grillers 4 editions · biggest 73 |
70 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| 20 | Independence Fire & Ice BBQ 3 editions · biggest 76 |
69 | Oct 5, 2018 |
| 21 | Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival 4 editions · biggest 72 |
69 | May 24, 2019 |
| 22 | Smokin on the Summit 5 editions · biggest 81 |
68 | Jul 19, 2019 |
| 23 | Smokin On Big Creek BBQ Contest Benefiting Operation BBQ Relief (TEAMS AND JUDGES FULL) 3 editions · biggest 72 |
67 | Mar 31, 2017 |
| 24 | Minnesota in May 3 editions · biggest 71 |
67 | May 11, 2018 |
| 25 | Jiggy with the Piggy (Day 2) 5 editions · biggest 76 |
65 | May 13, 2022 |
Rebuilt nightly from every KCBS result we can find. A record here is only as complete as the data behind it — if a contest is missing from the archive, so is anything that happened at it.
🎪 More from contests, fields & days
Records held by the contests themselves rather than by the teams.