Ben Colar, Denzel Alexander, and Michael Butler Jr. at SmokeSlam
Two barbecue contests held at the same time in the same city.
Only in Memphis. Right?
Ryan Marsh and Elizabeth Sullivan at World Championship Barbecue Cooking ContestNick Black at World Championship Barbecue Cooking ContestJohn Montgomery and Carol Coletta at SmokeSlam
Fifty-seven teams participated in the inaugural SmokeSlam in Tom Lee Park, May 16th through 18th. And 16,697 people (not counting teams) attended, says Lindsay Stevens, public relations for SmokeSlam.“We were just overwhelmed with the positivity we had from so many people,” she says. “I don’t think we could have been happier with the outcome.”
Mia Townsend and Abby Neal at SmokeSlamColin Ross, John McArthur, Cannon Smith, and Clark Schifani at World Championship Barbecue Cooking ContestDudley Knowlton, Trenten McCarty, and Drew Ybos at SmokeSlam
The 46th edition of the Memphis in May (MIM) World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, held May 15th through May 18th in Liberty Park, also was a success, says Randy Blevins with MIM. He had no estimate yet about attendance, but a total of 129 competition cooking teams from 22 states and four foreign countries took part. “Yet again during the third weekend in May, the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest became the biggest backyard in Memphis right in the heart of the city at Liberty Park,” Blevins says.
Both competitions are slated to return to their same locations in 2025.
An aerial rendering of the planned 901 FC stadium at Liberty Park. (Credit: 901 FC/Odell Sports & Entertainment Studio)
Soccer fans will soon be saying adios to AutoZone Park, and hello to a brand new stadium dedicated completely to soccer.
On Tuesday, Memphis 901 FC and the City of Memphis announced plans to build a new, 10,000 capacity stadium within Liberty Park. Odell Sports & Entertainment Studio and LRK will partner to design the stadium, which will be built on the site of the Mid-South Coliseum.
The stadium will have 7,500 fixed seats, as well as suites, clubs, and large covered gathering spaces to accomodate large parties and special events. The new stadium will also be able to host other special events, including concerts and additional long-field sports. 901 FC’s new home is expected to be ready in time for the start of the 2025 USL Championship season.
“When we launched our football club in 2019, we had two dreams,” said 901 FC sporting director Tim Howard. “The first was to compete at the highest level and win a USL Championship. Today, we are proud to be in the playoffs for our second consecutive season, this time as the second seed. The second goal was to build a proper soccer stadium with a world class pitch for our club that rivals that of Louisville or any of the great new venues being built in the United States and Europe for soccer. Today we move closer to that dream.”
Alongside the new stadium, 901 FC will develop two adjacent state of the art soccer fields, which will act as 901 FC’s training home along with potential academy, League 2, and a women’s professional teams.
An aerial rendering of the planned 901 FC stadium within Liberty Park. (Credit: 901 FC)
It is a huge statement of intent for 901 FC, which currently shares AutoZone Park with the MiLB Memphis Redbirds. Having its own dedicated stadium will allow the team to grow its brand and provide one of the best match-day environments in the USL.
901 FC kicks plays its first ever home playoff match at 7 p.m. this Saturday, October 22, against Detroit City FC in the quarterfinals. Memphis locked up the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing the regular season with a 3-0 away win against FC Tulsa last Saturday.
The new stadium is part of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s $684 million plan to renovate sports stadiums in Memphis, including the FedExForum, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, and AutoZone Park. Strickland plans to ask the state of Tennessee to invest $350 million towards the plan.
Memphis In May (MIM) attendance fell to a 20-year low this year, yielding a record-setting financial loss, officials said Wednesday, “as a result of being held outside of the traditional riverfront home Downtown in Tom Lee Park.”
Combined attendance for Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest fell below 115,000, officials said. The figure was 178,478 in 2018, and 175,330 in 2019.
Low attendance brought a record-setting financial loss of $1.9 million for 2022 festival operations. The previous record loss of $1.8 million was set in 2020 when the festival was canceled due to Covid. Smaller festival events were presented in 2021 due to ongoing concerns on Covid.
“Our fans were pleased we presented the full-scale festival in 2022, for the first time in three years,” said James Holt, MIM president and CEO. “We knew we would experience a significant decline in attendance because of our displacement from Tom Lee Park.
“The ongoing Covid pandemic, inflationary environment, and artist cancelations at Beale Street Music Festival also partially contributed to the decline in attendance.”
However, MIM said its 2022 programs were a “boon” to local hotels. Occupancy rates across the city peaked at 88.8 percent during Music Fest and Barbecue, according to MIM.
The 46th edition of MIM is slated to return to Tom Lee Park next year.
Juicy J and DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia (Photo courtesy Beale Street Music Festival)
When the quarantine era struck in 2020, one major piece of collateral damage was the Beale Street Music Festival (BSMF) that May, which was first postponed until that fall, then pushed into 2021. Those contingency plans didn’t pan out either, but now at long last the Memphis in May concert event is back. Today, the final lineup was released for the 44th edition of the festival, scheduled for April 29-May 1, 2022.
For the first time, the gathering will take place at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park, to make way for the construction of the redesigned Tom Lee Park. The 2023 Beale Street Music Festival will return to Tom Lee Park and the Memphis riverfront after park construction is completed in April 2023.
The lineup is appropriately packed with blockbuster acts, including the Foo Fighters, Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, Counting Crows, Sarah McLachlan, Three 6 Mafia, Death Cab for Cutie, Stone Temple Pilots, and Modest Mouse.
Sarah McLachlan (Photo courtesy Beale Street Music Festival)
Two notable headliners include Lil Wayne, making his BSMF headline debut, and Van Morrison, who last performed in the city at BSMF in 1996. The latter is sure to face a rocky reception, due to the anti-vaccine and pro-white nationalist leanings of his recent interviews and songs, but those may be irrelevant to many, amidst a back catalog as venerable as his.
Local luminaries will be well represented, including Cory Branan, Kenny Brown, and Blvck Hippie. There will be an especially strong contingent from Memphis’ hip-hop community, including MoneyBagg Yo, NLE Choppa, Project Pat, Al Kapone, Lil Wyte, Jucee Froot and White $osa. This year will also mark the first BSMF appearance for Memphis legends Three 6 Mafia in a decade.
Lil Wayne (Photo courtesy Beale Street Music Festival)
As part of the festival’s month-long salute to Ghana, the organization’s honored country for 2022, two of that country’s hottest artists join the lineup: Sarkodie and Stonebwoy.
As in previous iterations, the BSMF is but one of several events planned for the 2022 Memphis in May celebrations. Other dates associated with the month-long event include: the Honored Country Salute to Ghana, May 1-31, 2022; the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, May 11-14, 2022; and the Great American River Run,May 28, 2022.
The Beale Street Music Festival takes place at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park, April 29 – May 1, 2022.Information about single-day tickets will be released next week. Three-day passes are $175. VIP passes start at $809. Visit www.memphisinmay.org/bsmftickets for details.
(Credit: brg3s Architects) A rendering shows the proposed Liberty Park.
Dirt could turn on Liberty Park as soon as Tuesday after the more than $200 million project cleared a key funding hurdle at the state level.
Liberty Park, the youth sports complex to be built at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, got bond approval Monday, May 24th, from the Tennessee State Funding Board. Those bonds will be supported from the Tourist Development Zone (TDZ) established for the project, so some tax dollars collected within the zone will go to the project and not state coffers.
(Credit: brg3s Architects) A rendering shows the proposed Liberty Park.
With funding in place, the city of Memphis gave the green light to Turner Construction and onsite groundwork can begin at the Fairgrounds as soon as Tuesday, May 25th, officials said Monday.
“Our project timeline remains on schedule, and our construction team is prepared to begin the next phase of Liberty Park immediately,” said Mary Claire Borys, administrator of strategic initiatives for the city of Memphis Division of Housing & Community Development. “We look forward to getting the Sports and Events Center underway while also reimagining and returning the Liberty Park campus to its true ‘park’ identity with infrastructure and landscaping plans.”
(Credit: brg3s Architects) A rendering shows the proposed Memphis Sports & Events Center exterior.(Credit: brg3s Architects) A rendering shows the proposed Memphis Sports & Events Center interior.
The project will be anchored by the Memphis Sports and Events Center (MSEC), a 227,000-square-foot, column-free events pavilion designed to host sporting events, trade shows, graduations, and more. Construction of the MSEC is slated to be complete by October 2022.
Initial work at Liberty Park will focus on the MSEC and along Central Avenue for a future 18-acre mixed-use private development with public plazas, hotels, retail and dining space, and residential apartments.
(Credit: brg3s Architects) An aerial map shows the proposed 18-acre mixed-use development along Central Avenue.
So far, city leaders have signed letters of intent with Capstone Development Co. to develop two hotels at Liberty Park and with High 5 Entertainment to develop a 40,000-square-foot indoor arcade — complete with a bowling alley, bars, and restaurant — and a 25,000-square-foot outdoor miniature golf course.
(Credit: brg3s Architects) A rendering shows proposed outdoor sports fields.
Liberty Park’s plans also include improved public rights of way, new playgrounds and pavilions, a renovated Pipkin Building, outdoor playing fields at the MSEC, and a new track and football field at Tobey Park.
The city portion of the project is $126 million, with $70.6 million to come from the TDZ fund.
The new entertainment facility will feature bowling, golf, video games, and more.
Liberty Park, the yet-to-be-built youth sports complex at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, is slated to get an entertainment facility with a bowling alley, laser tag arena, golf simulators, ropes courses, escape rooms, and ax throwing.
News of the new project came Monday evening as Liberty Park officials announced they signed a consultant for the project. The consultants said they signed a letter of intent with the entertainment group that will build the entertainment facility.
Project leaders said Monday they hired Bender-Carey Group as consultants on Liberty Park to identify and secure additional development partners and funding sources for the project. That group then announced it executed a letter of intent with High 5 Entertainment to join the Liberty Park campus.
“We’re thrilled to bring opportunities to Memphis and sell the narrative of Liberty Park alongside this impressive team,” said Bender-Carey group president and CEO Kristie Bender-Carey. “It’s an ideal opportunity zone funding situation, and we are having very fruitful conversations with interested parties as a result.” High 5
The new entertainment facility will feature bowling, golf, video games, and more.
High 5, the entertainment company, is planning a 65,000-square-foot facility. It will feature a two-story, 40,000-square-foot indoor space and a 25,000-square-foot outdoor miniature golf course. It will also feature a virtual reality and video game arcade, a full-service restaurant, and bars.
“When we learned about Liberty Park and the synergy of all that’s there and on the way — from sports to the Children’s Museum, neighboring college campuses and Liberty Bowl football games — we easily concluded that Liberty Park is the ideal spot in the community to bring the joy and excitement of High 5,” said High 5 founder Scott Emley. “We know the City of Memphis has worked very hard to assemble a great program for everyone living in or visiting Memphis, and we at High 5 are humbled and excited at the opportunity to join the program.”
Construction of the entertainment facility is scheduled to begin in early 2021. Officials hope the facility will be open in time for the 2022 holiday season. High 5
The new entertainment facility will feature bowling, golf, video games, and more.
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The $200 million project to transform the Mid-South fairgrounds into a youth sports destination has been branded as Liberty Park. Officials said they plan to begin opening the park in 2022.
City officials announced the branding and timeline Thursday morning, calling Liberty Park a collection of cultural, education, entertainment, and recreation institutions in an expanded and unified campus vision.
Liberty Park will include existing assets such as the Liberty Bowl, Tiger Lane, the Children’s Museum of Memphis, and the Kroc Center. No mention was made of the now-vacant Mid-South Coliseum.
The park will also include a host of yet-built assets, including the Memphis Sports and Events Center, a 227,000-square-foot facility for youth sports and events. It will include indoor basketball and volleyball hard courts and will be adaptable for other sports such as wrestling, gymnastics, cheerleading, as events like convocations and commencements. The complex will also include a cafe and concessions area, multiple outdoor turf, and dedicated soccer fields, and a playground.
An 18-acre private development inside Liberty Park will include a public plaza, 90,000 square feet of family entertainment venues, 90,000 square feet of commercial office space, 100,000 square feet of retail and dining, two hotels, comprising 200 total rooms, and 100-150 apartments.
The private development will be built along Central Avenue in a space that currently houses a track and football field. The city will spend $3 million to move those assets to Tobey Park along Flicker Street. The money will be spread over three years in the city budget.
“Despite the issues we’re dealing with head-on, stemming from COVID-19, we have to simultaneously plan for the future,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. “Building on the spirit of an iconic past, known for years as the Fairgrounds, Liberty Park is a destination that moves a historic site into its next century to one day bring Memphians and visitors together.
“A visiting family can check into their hotel, tour the Children’s Museum, and grab a bite to eat, all within walking distance, before their sports tournament even begins. Every user and element of Liberty Park can benefit from and contribute to all of the experiences that have traditionally happened on the property.”
High 5 
High 5 
High 5