Deepest contest
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
486
average field across every edition
🥇 American Royal World Series Of Barbecue Open Contest
- Set 27 Sep 2023
- How 3 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 3 editions · biggest 505 |
486 | 27 Sep 2023 |
| 2 | American Royal World Series Of Barbecue Invitational Contest 3 editions · biggest 249 |
215 | 27 Sep 2023 |
| 3 | Great Lenexa Bbq Battle Kansas State Championship 4 editions · biggest 184 |
183 | 24 Jun 2016 |
| 4 | The Great Lenexa Bbq Battle Kansas State Championship 6 editions · biggest 183 |
164 | 26 Jun 2026 |
| 5 | Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship 7 editions · biggest 114 |
103 | 23 Sep 2022 |
| 6 | Jack Daniel S World Championship Invitation Barbecue 5 editions · biggest 102 |
96 | 26 Oct 2018 |
| 7 | Smoke In The Spring 13 editions · biggest 109 |
95 | 10 Apr 2026 |
| 8 | Dana Point State Bbq Championship 3 editions · biggest 99 |
90 | 7 Oct 2016 |
| 9 | Jack Daniel S World Championship Invitational Barbecue 5 editions · biggest 97 |
88 | 10 Oct 2025 |
| 10 | Navy Seal Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 3 editions · biggest 99 |
86 | 12 Sep 2025 |
| 11 | Sc Festival Of Discovery 8 editions · biggest 90 |
85 | 9 Jul 2021 |
| 12 | Smoke On The Shores Bbq Championship 10 editions · biggest 125 |
82 | 20 Mar 2026 |
| 13 | Blue Ridge Bbq Music Festival 4 editions · biggest 97 |
81 | 10 Jun 2016 |
| 14 | The National Bbq Cup 3 editions · biggest 86 |
80 | 20 Nov 2015 |
| 15 | South Carolina Festival Of Discovery 5 editions · biggest 92 |
77 | 9 Jul 2026 |
| 16 | City Of Bedford Blues Bbq Festival 4 editions · biggest 89 |
73 | 3 Sep 2016 |
| 17 | Shawnee Great Grillers 3 editions · biggest 73 |
71 | 26 Sep 2025 |
| 18 | Jiggy With The Piggy Bbq Challenge 3 editions · biggest 80 |
71 | 8 May 2015 |
| 19 | Boo B Que 3 editions · biggest 73 |
70 | 19 Oct 2018 |
| 20 | Independence Fire Ice Bbq 3 editions · biggest 76 |
69 | 5 Oct 2018 |
| 21 | Papa Joe S Banjo B Que Music Festival 4 editions · biggest 72 |
69 | 24 May 2019 |
| 22 | Smokin On The Summit 5 editions · biggest 81 |
68 | 19 Jul 2019 |
| 23 | Smokin On Big Creek Bbq Contest Benefiting Operation Bbq Relief 3 editions · biggest 72 |
67 | 31 Mar 2017 |
| 24 | Minnesota In May 3 editions · biggest 71 |
67 | 11 May 2018 |
| 25 | Jiggy With The Piggy 5 editions · biggest 76 |
65 | 13 May 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.