Barbeque is back on in Tom Lee Park Just a week out from the World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest Memphis In May getting set for the festival's return during COVID. Author: Rudy Williams Updated: 10:32 PM CDT May 6, 2021 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Locals call it Barbeque Fest, which happens every second week May. Its official name, The Memphis in May World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest is indeed a mouthful, but it says lots about the bonafide culinary contest burning back onto the scene after a year plagued by COVID. "It'll look somewhat different, right? But the meat on the bones is the competition and the barbeque and that's not changing," said Randy Blevins of Memphis in May.