After a brief stall, the warmth is again on for Sizzling Luck, the Texas competition combining reside hearth cooking and music. A brand new preliminary lineup reveals who will cook dinner on October 16 and 17, with extra data to return in regards to the music lineup.
Sizzling Luck began as a collaboration between pitmaster Aaron Franklin, Guerilla Swimsuit inventive company principal James Moody, and co-founder of Feast Portland Mike Thelin. In 2026, as Memorial Day weekend crept up — the time the competition would normally be held — competition organizers had nonetheless not introduced dates or a lineup. Lastly, a couple of days earlier than the vacation, organizers posted a save-the-date on social media, this time for October. In mid-June, Folks Inc. introduced that it acquired the competition.
That makes this the primary Sizzling Luck lineup below new administration. Franklin and Moody stay on the crew, so most of the relationships that gave Sizzling Luck its taste seem to have been preserved. And this lineup needs for nothing when it comes to native, regional, and even nationwide acclaim.
The preliminary chef lineup for Sizzling Luck 2026 is as follows:
This 12 months, the Austin competition is shorter than it had been beforehand, with solely two days to work with. The primary is Giddy Up, the fest’s “signature live-fire feast,” a press launch says, held Friday at Franklin Barbecue. Friends will have the ability to stroll round and check out bites, identical to an precise potluck. That evening, musical artists will take the stage at The Mohawk venue for one central musical occasion. Then on Saturday, a bigger occasion at Meeting Corridor known as the Home Social gathering units up the same tasting extravaganza.
Returning followers might discover that the competition’s extra outdoorsy tastings, that are normally held farther from downtown Austin, are not on the menu. With little details about music to this point, followers would possibly suppose the music portion has been condensed; nonetheless, the discharge guarantees “extra taking part music venues all through the weekend.”
“The perfect a part of Sizzling Luck has at all times been getting a bunch of extremely gifted folks collectively and letting them cook dinner, play music, and have a very good time,” mentioned Franklin within the launch. “Yearly takes on a lifetime of its personal, and we’re wanting ahead to welcoming all people again to Austin this October.”
With fewer occasions on the lineup, passes to Sizzling Luck are additionally inexpensive this 12 months. The Complete Enchilada Cross, which incorporates every little thing, plus early entry to the Home Social gathering, is offered for $349. (That is in comparison with $525.99 in 2025.) Household passes ($700 for 2 adults and two “children” 20 and below) and teen passes ($100 for folks aged 13-20) are additionally out there. Tickets profit the Southern Smoke Basis, a company that broadly helps individuals who work in hospitality and their households.
