Gonna be near New York City this weekend and wanna enjoy some amazing barbecue with 120,000 of your closest friends?  Then the 7th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party is for you!

This Saturday and Sunday (June 13-14), Madison Square Park will be transformed in to a mecca of pork and beef as 15 of the country’s top pit masters fire up more than 53,000 pounds of food.

And while the Fastpass tickets are no longer available (think All-You-Can-Eat Buffet meets EZ Pass), you can pick up individual plates for $8 a pop, a bargain considering how far you’d have to travel to taste some of these folks food.  Plus a bulk of the cash raised goes to the Madison Square Park Conservancy, which develops the park’s programming, maintenance, security and horticulture.

You can also check out the website for a list of non-stop seminars (covering everything from bourbon to bison), music, cooking demos and more.

Running the smokers this weekend are some truly amazing talents.  Here’s the roster: 

• Kenny Callaghan, Blue Smoke, New York, NY
• Pete Daversa, Hill Country, New York, NY
• Joe Duncan, Baker’s Ribs, Dallas, TX
• Jimmy Hagood, BlackJack BBQ, Charleston, SC
• Chris Lilly, Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Decatur, AL
• Patrick Martin, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Nolensville, TN
• Mike Mills, 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, IL, Memphis Championship Barbecue, Las Vegas, NV
• Ed Mitchell, The Pit, Raleigh, NC
• Garry Roark, Ubon’s “Champion’s Choice”, Yazoo City, MS
• Drew Robinson, Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, Birmingham, AL
• Michael Rodriguez, The Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, TX
• John Stage, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, New York, NY
• Skip Steele, Pappy’s Smokehouse, St. Louis, MO
• John Wheeler, Rack & Soul, New York, NY
• Ed Wilson, Wilson’s Barbeque, Fairfield, CT

- SmokeInDaEye.com, Home of Bigger, Badder, Bolder BBQ