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In 2000, the town of Kennesaw, Georgia, held a blues concert and barbecue cook off for a few amateur grillers. In 2007, the organizers decided to elevate the cook off to competitive cook teams.
Pigs & Peaches has grown into one of the area’s most popular festivals. In its 22nd year, the festival features two days of non-stop music and entertainment, great food, cold beer and interactive family fun. It attracts approximately 60,000 attendees each year.
The Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival will be celebrated in Adams Park in Kennesaw on August 18 and 19, 2023.
Festival Hours
- Friday, August 18 – 6 pm to 10 pm
- Saturday, August 19 – 10 am to 10 pm
Festival admission is free and so is the entertainment.
Festival Food and Beverages
There will be no public sampling at the festival, but there will be dozens of food vendors plus several of the cook teams selling their barbecue and other food items and beverages during the festival. Prices will vary between the vendors.
Beer will be available for purchase (21+) at several locations throughout the festival. ATM machines will be available.
Music
There will be music throughout the festival on three different stages.
Entertainment Schedule
Friday – Local Stage
- 6 pm to 7 pm – Cat Carter
- 7 pm to 8;30 pm – Bettin’ on The Mule
Saturday
- 10 am to 11:30 am – The Schumachers
- 12 pm to 1:30 pm – School of Rock West Cobb
- 2 pm to 3:30 pm – School of Rock East Cobb
- 5 pm to 6 pm – Stephanie Bertanga
- 6:30 pm to 8 pm – July Turner
Friday – Luzianne Tea Main Stage
- 6:30 pm to 8 pm – George Shingleton
- 8:30 pm to 10 pm – Allie Colleen
Saturday
- 10 am to 11 am – Jayna Jennings
- 11:30 am to 12:30 pm – Thomas Fountain
- 1 pm to 2 pm – Abbey Cone
- 2:30 pm to 4 pm – Paul Hand Band
- 6 pm to 7:30 pm – Charley Reynolds
- 8 pm to 9:30 pm – Drake Mulligan
Family Stage
Dance companies, ensembles and choral groups will be performing on the Family Stage which will be located inside the Kid Zone. Performances will be family oriented, an equivalent of a G rating.
Saturday’s entertainment will conclude with a spectacular fireworks finale at 9:30 pm.
Festival Activities
- Cornhole Classic – This will take place at the Recreation Center on Saturday. The entry fee is $50 per team with a casual division and a competitive division. The play will be round robin. Prizes will be awarded to the teams placing first and second in both divisions.
- Parents Night Out – This will take place on Friday from 6 pm to 10 pm at the Recreation Center for children ages 5 to 11. This will cost $25 per child. The kids will enjoy an indoor bounce house, giant lawn games, dinner and popcorn.
- Professional Barbecue Contest – Professional cook teams will compete in 4 meat categories: chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket.
- One Grand Champion will receive $2,500 cash and an artisan trophy.
- One Grand Reserve Champion will receive $1,500 cash and an artisan trophy.
- Backyard BBQ Contest – An amateur cook off for individuals or teams just for fun.
- One Grand Prize – $500 cash
- Anything Butt Contest – You can show off your cooking creativity. Each cook team will be given one meat item. Cooks may add any ingredient(s) to create the most delicious dish.
- Winner will receive $200 cash and an artisan trophy.
- Peach Dessert Contest – Each cook team’s recipe must include peaches.
- Winner will receive $200 cash and an artisan trophy.
Barbecue Cookbooks
If you liked the barbecue at the festival and want to learn more about barbecuing, try these cookbooks. And you can use our links to see how to save money on them.
- Barbecue Sauces, Rubs and Marinades – Bastes, Butter and Glazes, Too by Steve Raichlen
- Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is A Great Day: A Cookbook by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie
- Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ
Kennesaw BBQ Restaurants
Or you can enjoy barbecue in the 10 Best Barbecue Restaurants in Kennesaw as chosen by the users of TripAdvisor.
- Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q
- JD’s Bar-B-Que
- Big Shanty Smokehouse BBQ
- Dave’s Poe BBQ
- Bub-Ba-Q – Woodstock
- Righteous One
- The Nest Kennesaw Beer & Barbeque
- Bar-B-Cutie
- Zeigler’s BBQ
- Iron Age Korean
Kennesaw Lodging
If you’d like to visit Kennesaw for the festival, you should consider the following hotels. They are all offering discounted rates which could save you money on your stay.
- Comfort Suites at Kennesaw State University 19% Discount
- Quality Inn Kennesaw 19% Discount
- Rodeway Inn SE 19% Discount
- Comfort Inn Acworth – Kennesaw Northwest 19% Discount
- Econo Lodge Cowan Road 19% Discount
- Sleep Inn near Ballpark 19% Discount
- Comfort Suites Parkway 575 19% Discount
- Country Inn & Suites by Radisson Hiram 18% Discount
- Quality Inn SE 18% Discount
- Sleep Inn & Suites at Kennesaw State University 15% Discount
- MainStay Suites Cartersville 15% Discount
- Suburban Studios Kennesaw Marietta North 15% Discount
- Quality Inn Cowan Road 15% Discount
- Sleep Inn & Suites Metromont 14% Discount
- Econo Lodge Inn & Suites SE 5% Discount
- Comfort Inn Kennesaw 5% Discount
Many people like to travel to festivals in an RV. It does have its advantages. The you can rent one and Green Vacation Deals recommends RVShare.
Location
Kennesaw, Georgia, is within 17 miles of Dunwoody, Roswell, Cartersville, Smyrna, Woodstock, Marietta, Acworth, Mountain Park and Sandy Springs. Kennesaw is 73 miles from Atlanta and 85 miles from Athens.