A New England Barbecue Society world championship visits Rochester on May 25, and this royal title involves bacon.

As part of the Roc City Rib Fest (@RocCityRibFest), the first World Bacon Championship will pit the area’s most dangerous bacon craftsman against each other in four separate categories.

The four-day festival runs from May 24 to 27—full schedule here—and it takes place at Ontario Beach Park, locally known as Charlotte Beach, which is 80 minutes from downtown Buffalo. See map to the right.

You can enter the World Bacon Championship, which includes heats in—“Bacon in a Box,” “Wrapped in Bacon,” “Savory Bacon Dish” and “Bacon Dessert”—for $125, or choose to participate in all four of the weekend’s cooking contests. Enter here at the bottom of the screen.

The different heats run for a half-hour apiece from noon to 2 p.m. and the winner is crowned around 6. The grand prize totals $4,000, but that pales in comparison to the title of “World Bacon Champion.” You won’t have to search for another date in your life.

Here are the rules, compliments of Roc City Rib Fest’s website:

Reasons for entering—or at least witnessing—the World Bacon Championship are plentiful. Think of the tantalizing bacon aroma wafting around the waterfront, as challengers frantically fry, wrap and cook comfort foods like bacon-wrapped sausage, bacon-wrapped scallops, bacon brownies and bacon cheesecake.

Honestly, bacon tastes glorious on its own, but with the creative techniques of competing chefs eying the $4,000 prize, bacon’s true greatness will rightfully honored.

(Header photo courtesy of Flickr / Shawnzam).