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Shake off winter blues with delicious barbecue festivals that cook up a mouth-watering reason to visit diverse celebrations in the US and Canada.
No matter where you are traveling in North America, chances are you can spice up your journey and add a few extra memories by attending a local BBQ festival to your itinerary. Plan your road trip to take advantage of the regional and national parks, county fairs, local 4th parades along the route.
Just Call It BBQ
The term “barbecue” has become a matter of pride and regionality. The genre is not strictly American. The word itself and its food-related culture have become so popular that culinary traditions around the world identify dishes as BBQ.
Some food scholars think the name comes from a Spanish word, “barbacoa,” a New World cooking practice first named in print during the 1500’s. Other authorities say the word is based on an indigenous Caribbean people’s term “barabicu,” a framework of sticks on posts setting meats above a fire.
North American colonial settlements preserved food with the onset of colder temperatures in the fall. Families and communities gathered to share their abundance during harvest. They salted and smoked some meat to preserve it.
Barbecue feasts also were a feature of early American politics before November elections. George Washington noted expenses in his diary for serving “barbicu” and grog to potential voters.
In “Three Years Before The Mast,” Charles Dana Gibson described his voyages of the 1800s and attending “fandangos” in Los Angeles, Monterey and Santa Barbara. Whole oxen were roasted underground over live coals.
Regional styles
Barbecue styles typically are named for regions of origin. Yet, these cooking methods are practiced throughout the world regardless of location.
• Eastern BBQ
Features pork cooked slowly over hardwood coals, often served with vinegar-infused sauces. “Pulled pork” BBQ sandwiches are common in celebrations along the east coast of the US and Canada.
• Coastal BBQ festivals
Includes local seafood barbecuing traditions. Western salmon smoke-cooked on cedar planks is a famous technique of the northwestern states learned from native tribes.
Coastal communities adapted a direct-cooking technique on the beach using driftwood and sand pits to serve up seasonal catch. Events on the eastern and western seaboards of North America feature seafood such as oyster and shrimp, scallop, seasonal fish, crab, lobster and clam.
• Saint Louis and Kansas City BBQ
Known for long-cooking times, using a thick sauce or a spice mixture dry-rubbed into the marinating meat before cooking in a pit. Some sources attribute this style of BBQ to freed slaves along the Mississippi River.
• Texas and Carolina BBQ
Often relies on thick tomato and vinegar sauces. Food is slow-roasted in a pit or suspended on an iron rack over coals. Texas BBQ festivals sometimes include Mexican-inspired chile tasting events.
• Western cowboy cooking
So-named for campfire-roasted meats prepared at camp for meals on the hoof or at the chuck wagon. The trailside cooking techniques and flavors followed traditions of Spanish Basque sheepherders, Mexican vaqueros and other immigrant nomads. Cowboys on cattle drives from the Canadian Rocky Mountains and US plains used mesquite coals gathered along the trail.
• Santa Maria BBQ
Common along the Central California coast and popularized tri-tip steak and beef rump, slowly seared over fires of native red oak and simply flavored with spices and garlic. Chile Cook-Off Contests are a remnant of the Mexican Californio culture and cattle ranching.
Canadian BBQ Spring & Summer Event selections:
• Jack 9 Memorial, La Sallette, Ontario - May 24-25, 2025
• Embers & Ice Competition, Calmer, Alberta - May 24-25, 2025
• Small Town Smoke Down, Bassano, Alberta - May 30-June 1, 2025
• Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown, Upper Onslow, Nova Scotia - June 6-8, 2025
• Smokey Skies BBQ Competition, Kipling, Saskatchewan - June 21-22, 2025
• Calgary Stampede: Cowboys BBQ Cookoff, Calgary, Alberta- July 10, 2025
• The Great Atlantic BBQ Competition, Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition, Bible Hill, Nova Scotia - July 19-20, 2025
• Didsbury Lions BBQ, Mountain View County, Alberta- July 26-27, 2025
• Rock N Hogs BBQ Battle, London, Ontario- August 23-24, 2025
Some US Barbecue Events: Spring through fall 2025
• Quein’ On The Red, Alexandria, Louisiana - May 2-3, 2025
• Pendleton’s Cattle Baron’s BBQ Challenge, Pendleton, Oregon - May 2-3, 2025
• Fire In The Hole, Somerset, Texas - May 2-3, 2025
• Texas BBQ Throwdown State Championship, Hempstead, Texas - May 2-3, 2025
• Show Low Steak Throwdown, Show Low, Arizona. May 3, 2025
• City Of Alamo Watermelon Festival and Cook Off - Alamo, Texas - May 10, 2025
• Butterfield Stage Days, Bridgeport, Texas - May 9-10, 2025
• Twin Valley Fire and Smoke, Morgantown, Pennsylvania. - May 16, 2025
• Klinker Brick Winery BBQ Contest, Lodi, California - May 17, 2025
• SmokeSlam BBQ Competition, Memphis, Tennessee - May 15-17, 2025
• Gold Country Brewfest & State BBQ Championship, Oroville, California - May 17, 2025
• Donate Life/ Cystic Fibrosis Ancillary Cookoff, Jacksonville, FL - May 25, 2025:
• Best Dam Barbecue Challenge, Boulder City, Nevada - May 23-24, 2025
• BBQ, Blues & Brews On The Bay, North Bend, Oregon - May 25, 2025
• Heart & Hardware BBQ Cookoff, Haughton, Louisiana - May 26, 2025
• Granite State BBQ Championship, Hancock, New Hampshire - May 30-June 1, 2025
• Pitmaster’s SCA Competition, Connelly Springs, North Carolina - June 1, 2025:
• National BBQ Festival, Nassau County, Long Island, New York - June 13-15, 2025
• SCA - Battle of The Moose, Palmer, Alaska - June 14, 2025
• K C BBQ Smoke Off 4-Life, Kansas City, Kansas - June 13-14, 2025
• Smoke on the Hill, Brady, Texas - June 13, 2025
• Almost Heaven BBQ Bash, Buckhannon, West Virginia - June 12-14, 2025
• Montana BBQ Cookoff, Absarokee, Montana- June 14, 2025
• Berry Dairy Days Smoke & Grill Competition, Burlington, Washington - June 21, 2025
• Last Frontier BBQ Throwdown, Eagle River, Alaska - June 20-22, 2025
• Cooking on the Creek BBQ Battle, Biloxi, Mississippi - June 20-21, 2025
• BBQ & Brew, Rutland, Vermont - June 21-22, 2025
• Annual IBEW Social BBQ & Chili Cookoff, San Diego, California - June 25, 2025
• Smokin' Grass Bluegrass & BBQ Festival, Manteo, North Carolina - July 6, 2025
• Connecticut BBQ Challenge, Somers, Connecticut - July 12, 2025
• Annual Company Clambake, Binghamton, NY - July 24. 2025
• Dodge City Days BBQ Competition, Dodge City, Kansas - July 25-26, 2025
• Hog Days of Summer BBQ Cook-Off, Bloomington, Indiana - July 25-26, 2025
• Rhode Island Balloon Festival & BBQ Championship - Warwick, Rhode Island - July 25, 2025
• Maine Lobster Festival, Rockland, Maine - July 30-August 3, 2025
• All American BBQ Throwdown, Wheatland, Michigan - August 1-2, 2025
• Lord of the Wings, Soldotna, Alaska - August 8-9, 2025
• Death's Door Barbeque, Washington Island, Wisconsin - August 23, 2025
• Up in Smoke On The Square, Lincoln, Illinois - August 22-23, 2025
• A Celebration - Hampton Beach Seafood Festival, - September 5-7, 2025
• Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest, Riverside, California - September 13, 2025
• Smokin’ on the Route, Route 66 Historic Heritage Fest, Miami, Oklahoma - September 26-27, 2025
• Fire In The Foothills, King, North Carolina - September 27, 2025 Hosted by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, this annual event and family festival funds non-profit causes. The contestants tout the Kansas City BBQ style in North Carolina!
• American Royal World Series of BBQ - Kansas City, Kansas November 5-9, 2025. This whopper of a festival in the heart of the midwest US expects over 50,000 visitors annually at the Kansas City Speedway.
• Jack Daniels Championship Invitational Barbecue - Lynchburg, Tennessee October 10 & 11th, 2025. Familiarly known as “The Jack,” this annual contest takes over this whiskey-making city, hosting over 80 world BBQ teams that vie for the Grand Champion title. Separate competitions in seven categories give chances for chefs to shine: Beef Brisket, Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulders/Butts, Jack Daniel’s Sauce, Cook’s Choice and Desserts. The event features free live music, a parade, kid’s activities, County Dog Show, Fun Fair and rides, tours as well as athletic running events to enter.
• The Barbecue Festival - Lexington, North Carolina. October 25, 2025.
“Pig Out!” the website for this event proclaims, inviting visitors to sample a town-full of grilled food accompanied by sides of musical performers and family attractions in this gala that occupies the entire downtown area. Almost four decades of tradition make this one of the “big meets for meat” in the world of BBQ competitions. Sand-sculpture contests and other attractions for the whole family are listed on the website with a calendar of events, places to stay and tickets to the festival.
• Three California BBQ Association listed events - September & October 2025
The cbbqa.com website includes event information and opportunities to participate:
September 2, 2025 - 12 Bridges Rib Cook-Off in Lincoln California. This annual benefit cook-off celebrates the Gold Rush era stone bridges on a vast ranch in the Sierra Foothills. “Ribs, Music, Community - all things that make a cook-off a good time” states the website that celebrates Kansas City BBQ in California!
October 5, 2025 -The Silicone Valley Pig Jig in San Jose, California. Live music, food, drink, a BBQ competition and beer garden dedicated to finding a cure for kidney disease.
October 12, 2025 - San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Foundation Mounted Patrol Rib Cook Off is a competition filled with Wild West associations in Clements, CA at the Buckaroo Rodeo Grounds. The festival has plenty of food and activities for kids, rides, raffles, live music and free entry to the events.
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