New York City’s ultimate barbecue and live music extravaganza returns to Madison Square Park and surrounding streets on Saturday & Sunday, June 9th & 10th.

Along with serving up ’cue from the country’s best pitmasters, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party will be hosting free seminars and demonstrations to bring you expert advice for your own backyard barbecue. also features live artist performances

Experts from Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Real Simple will be joined on the Ikea Cooking Stage by top chefs from some of the South’s most acclaimed restaurants, including the 2012 James Beard Award Best Chef: South winner Chris Hastings (Hot & Hot Fish Club), Sean Brock (Husk, McCrady’s), Tyler Brown (Capitol Grille), and John Currence (City Grocery Group).

Event admission is free, and attendees can purchase barbecue from 17 of the nation’s top pitmasters for only $8/plate.

Or, for the ultimate ’cue fanatic, FastPasses are on sale for $125 each at www.bigapplebbq.org

This year’s music line-up is headlined by legendary blues rocker Alejandro Escovedo, along with Jon Langford, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Southern Culture on the Skids, and The Revelations featuring Tre Williams.