Family Adventures · Iowa Food · West Central Iowa

The One Midwest BBQ Fest You Need to Visit in 2020!

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The ultimate BBQ standoff you’ve been waiting for. Some of the best Midwest pit masters meet in Western Iowa!

Denison, IA: Crawford County

The annual Tri City BBQ Fest has now turned into an annual trip for us to Denison, Iowa; and you are about to see why you need to follow the smoke and discover this event for yourself. A family friendly, all day and all night entertaining weekend with all the small town comfort you can ask for with live music. And there’s tacos, too! Get that calendar marked for late September, and start a new end of a the summer routine.

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Uptown-Denison was packed and for very good reason. One of Iowa’s tastiest food festivals was going strong!

This was our third trip to Denison since the Spring of 2018 and this town knows how to keep Team Goodvin coming back. The finest brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken, and a host of other smoked goodness is up for grabs in the Crawford County seat.

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Sage advice. Or is it saucy advice?
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It’s not all traditional cuts and regular plates. How about a boat of nachos with smoked chicken, sweet corn, rich and creamy queso, and tangy BBQ sauce!
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Hey, kids! How many thumbs up do you give to your first meal in Denison!
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Are you getting teary-eyed yet?

Nachos are great, but you need to dive into the staples while you’re here too. The collection of ribs is amazing and they are everywhere! Those bones are calling out to you. Better pick them clean and get back to work on more.

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There’s butter companies that wish they could have a product that cut as smoothly as this perfect beef brisket.

Let’s take a little break and see what else this weekend has to offer. Remember that family friendly part? You’re about to see some serious skills in the art of having great times in Denison!

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Climb that wall, Gigi! Flip flop nation scaling Tri City BBQ Fest!
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Want a little astronaut training? Take a spin on this and work up that laughter to go with all that BBQ!
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Some get a little cup and blow bubbles outside. Uptown Denison puts you inside one and throws it into a pool and says “go wild!”
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Tri City BBQ Fest supports more than America’s farmers with treasure troves of smokers pumping out the meat. They want you to show off your classic ride too.
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Bumblebee alert! How would you like to take this for a spin while chowing on a giant smoked turkey leg?
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The car show brings out the strangest characters. And there’s a skeleton too.
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Just one of several acts on the live stage Friday and Saturday! Beer, BBQ, and live performers. That’s how you conquer the weekend right there.

A large family entertainment section keeps your kids very much into the festival all day long. Not only is this area fun, but Tri City BBQ Fest expanded it in 2019 due to the growing popularity of this event! Bands pumping out the rhythm of a saucy getaway to Western Iowa! Let’s get more to eat…

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Smoked sausage with pulled pork and a juicy ear of elote…..Sign me up!
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That’s one happy family full of BBQ. That’s the specialty of Denison, Iowa!
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I told you there would be tacos!
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It’s Iowa, folks. There will always be corn everywhere you go at an Iowa festival such as this.
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We went back again and again to the tacos. That’s how mama raised me!
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The dudes’ day out in Denison. Now that has a ring to it!
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You smelled it! From sweet corn on the nachos, to elote, to sweet and salty kettle corn, all beautifully made right here in Denison.
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Wash it all down and this crew will help you do it. The Iowa Craft Beer Tents made another appearance to Tri City BBQ Fest and you know we were all grateful for that.

There will be no shortage of food at this festival. Not ever! What’s great is that its not all BBQ here. Kettle corn, carne asada, gourmet sodas, Iowa beer, and plenty of local restaurants with their own legendary meals all over town. This is quite the weekend of non-stop meaty masterpieces. That means we need to get a little rest and Denison a premium place for that.

*Our stay at the Cobblestone Inn & Suites-Denison was complimentary. The views expressed are always of our own. Let’s get back to gallivanting!

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Sitting on top of the hill like a comfy castle waiting for you to call it home for a few days. This Cobblestone Inn is a wonderful way to relax that BBQ belly.  161 Oak Ridge Drive
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Would I sleep on this couch? Yup! But we had a room to do that in.
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One of two beds in this family suite and they gave us a fantastic sleep. Fantastic BBQ coma-induced sleep is more accurate.
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The comfy couch doubles as a comfy bed. That’s my kind of transformer!
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Well…..We found the number to the local pizza joint for delivery. We wanted dessert!

The Cobblestone Inn & Suites showed us that we can take many laps around sweet and smoky Uptown Denison and not need any reason to make plans for anything else. because there’s a very roomy and relaxing hotel to keep you in Crawford County. Catching up with some locals made for a complete trip, and the staff at this fantastic hotel will help us to keep coming back. And this is just a quick look at what these modern accommodations have ready for you so stay tuned!

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Just look at those vintage sunglasses from The Junkery in Uptown Denison! That’s how you eat a taco in style.

The final days of September has quite the tantalizing aroma in this community we’ve come to love. Tri-City BBQ Fest is just one way to enjoy Crawford County and we look forward to our next gallivant to Denison. You could use a new adventure and another road trip, so make this yummy destination happen in 2020! What? don’t want to wait until next year to see Crawford County? Then click on the link below to see what this winter is bringing!

https://www.dbrnews.com/news/cdc-creates-new-holiday-event/article_2cdba18e-07f2-11ea-b0a1-175040c825b5.html

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