The Lexington Barbecue Festival Guide

Lexington calls itself the Barbecue Capital of the world, has around one barbecue joint for every fifteen hundred residents, and one Saturday every October it shuts down its entire downtown, brings in tons of Lexington-style chopped pork shoulder cooked over hickory coals, and feeds well north of a hundred thousand people in a single day. This is Piedmont-style barbecue at its temple: pork shoulder, red slaw, and a thin vinegar-and-ketchup dip that Lexington will fight you over. The whole town becomes one smoky, crowded, pork-scented block party.

When: the last full Saturday of October — confirm the date at the Lexington Barbecue Festival site.