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Are you hungry for some North Carolina barbecue? Who isn’t?!! Let that hunger lead you to the Carolina Barbecue Festival in Charlotte. It is a barbecue extravaganza that is happening at Victoria Yards on April 17 and 18, 2026. And we can help you save money on the festival with a coupon!
Festival Hours
- Friday, April 17 – 6 pm to 10 pm
- Saturday, April 18 – 12 pm to 4 pm
- VIP access after 11 am
The festival will be kicking the weekend off on Friday, April 4th. It will be celebrating the rich tradition of Whole Hog Barbecue and so much more. Enjoy the drinks, eats, music and more! Meet the Pitmasters and watch them set up for the festival.
Friday night crew includes
- The Improper Pig
- Bar-B-Q King
- Mac’s Speed Shop
- Midwood Smokehouse
- Union Barbecue
Festival Pitmasters include
- Matthew Register of Southern Smoke from Garland, North Carolina
- Brian Furman BBQ from Winterview, N.C.
- Elliott Moss of Elliott’s from Florence, S.C.
- Dylan Cooke of Fork Grove Barbecue from Anderson, S.C.
- Tank Jackson of Holy City Hogs from Wadmalaw Island, S.C.
- Keith Henning of Black Powder Smokehouse from Jamestown, N.C.
- Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue from Durham, N.C.
- Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s Barbecue from Charlotte, N.C.
- Garren Kirkman of Jon B.’s Barbecue from Peachland, N.C.
- Kent & Jess Hess of Country Smoak from Lynchburg, Va.
- Nathan Monk of Lexington BBQ from Lexington, N.C.
- Ronald Simmons of Master Blend Family Farms from Kenansville, N.C.
- Ben Hooper of Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue Waynesville, N.C.
- Eric Pickle of Smoked Pickle Barbecue from Knoxville, Tenn.
- Sam Jones of Sam Jones Barbecue from Winterville, N.C.
- Michael Letchworth of Fox Hollow Outdoors in Eastern N.C.
- Bob Roberts of Redwood Smoke Shack in Norfolk, Va.
- Griffin Bufkin & Harrison Sapp of Southern Soul Barbecue from St. Simons Island, Ga.
- Adam Hughes of Old Colony Smokehouse from Edenton, N.C.
- Anthony Dibernardo of Swig & Swin BBQ from Charleston, S.C.
Your festival ticket includes tasting plates from each of the 25 Pitmaster stations. You’ll get a mix of whole hog, brisket, chicken, hash and rice, seafood and more. Each Pitmaster brings a unique style of cooking barbecue to the festival. I’d advise you to come hungry! That’s a lot of barbecue!
The Carolina BBQ Festival is offering curated drinks crafted for the festival plus beer and wine will be available for purchase. Local vendors will be there with unique hand crafted items. You can also purchase Carolina BBQ Festival merchandise.
There will be live music throughout the festival. A portion of the proceeds will go to Hungry Heroes and Operation BBQ Relief.
General Admission includes entry to festival, tasting plates and access to vendors.
VIP includes everything in General Admission plus access to VIP Area, Oysters and Champagne and $10 voucher for Carolina BBQ Festival merchandise.
Coupon
If you are looking for a way to save money, you’ve come to the right place. Book your ticket here and you can save
- $7 (20% discount) on Ticket to Friday Kickoff for 1 person
- $9 (12% discount) on General Admission Ticket to Saturday Festival for 1 person
- $23 (15% discount) on General Admission Ticket to Saturday Festival for 2 people
- $55 (18% discount) on General Admission Ticket to Saturday Festival for 4 people
- $15 (12% discount) on VIP Admission for 1 person on Saturday