The BIG GRILL is BACK!
Europe’s biggest BBQ & Food Festival returns to Herbert Park next Thursday with over 50 one off dishes, 45+ restaurants and vendors, 10 independent breweries and a huge expansion of its ‘Little Grillers’ programme for kids.
Up to 25,000 food fans are expected in Herbert Park next week as Big Grill returns to Dublin from Thursday 13th to Sunday 16th August, bringing some of the world’s most celebrated barbecue and live fire cooks together with a serious line up of Irish restaurants for four days of food cooked over flame.
Now in its 13th year, Europe’s biggest BBQ & Food Festival will serve over 50 festival exclusive dishes from over 30 restaurants and vendors, alongside more than 50 cooking demonstrations, masterclasses and tastings.
New for 2026, Big Grill will unveil its hugely expanded ‘Little Grillers’ programme and, for the first time, run Saturday as one continuous festival day with no session changeover.
And if the words “BBQ festival” make you think burgers and brisket, this year’s menus go far beyond that.
Across Dublin 4’s Herbert Park, festival goers can eat everything from South Carolina whole hog barbecue and Swedish pit beef with dipping jus to Afghan-Texan brisket naan, Filipino pig’s head tacos, South Indian lamb curry, Thai beef on beef fat roti and Japanese live fire dishes. The kind of food you would normally have to travel the world to find.
At the top of the international bill is multi time world barbecue champion and Barbecue Hall of Famer Tuffy Stone, one of the most decorated figures in American barbecue. Known as “The Professor” for his meticulous approach to smoke, fire and technique, Stone will cook and teach across each day of the festival, giving Dublin audiences the chance to learn first hand from one of the best in the business on the Bastecamp demo stage.
Also appearing across the festival is acclaimed BBQ author and live fire expert Genevieve Taylor, who has written numerous books on barbecue and fire cooking and will lead a series of demonstrations throughout the weekend.
Also flying in is two time James Beard nominated chef Elliott Moss, one of the leading remaining practitioners of traditional Carolina whole hog barbecue.
Moss will cook whole rare breed, free range Irish pigs from Dermot Allen low and slow over hardwood coals before pulling and chopping the meat for a Pee Dee South Carolina style whole hog BBQ sandwich with vinegar pepper sauce, a serious labour of love built around time, technique and plenty of theatre. Moss is one of only a handful of cooks still keeping this traditional style of whole hog barbecue alive.
Sweden’s Holy Smoke BBQ is bringing a Dripping Pit Beef Sandwich of reverse seared top sirloin, bread and butter pickles and Dijon horseradish mayo in soft milk bread, served with a pot of rich bacon and onion jus for dipping.
London’s Andrew Clarke of ACME Fire Cult will serve a grilled Lamb Chop Railway Curry with coconut, tamarind and curry leaves, while Cue Point’s Mursal Saiq and Joshua Moroney bring Afghanistan and Texas together in brisket with Texas naan, cowboy butter, torshi pickles and jalapeño jam.
DUBLIN BRINGS ITS OWN HEAT
The visiting famous pitmasters are only half the story.
Some of Dublin’s best loved restaurants have created dishes specifically for the festival, such as Bahay x Kaldero’s sisig tacos of grilled pig’s head, burnt chilli calamansi salsa and salted duck egg, already being tipped behind the scenes as a contender for dish of the weekend.
Hawker is cooking Irish lamb over fire for a smoked lamb bao; Achara is serving slow grilled beef khao soi on beef fat roti; and Reyna x Chiya will hand stack beef and lamb onto a huge wood fired kebab rig for its yaprak döner.
Beloved Dublin-Brazilian churrascaria Bah33 is bringing some serious fire theatre, including its giant spinning wheel of meat, while Mark O’Brien, fresh from becoming the first Irish chef to reach the final of MasterChef: The Professionals 2026, returns with Snake Oil Barbecue and a smoked bone-in pork shoulder steak with Carolina Gold sauce. Hera will also serve a pork bifana, expected to be a festival hit.
BIG GRILL’S HUGELY EXPANDED 2026 KIDS PROGRAMME
One of the biggest changes to the 2026 setup is ‘Little Grillers’, which has been massively expanded for 2026, allowing mums and dads to relax into the festival fun.
The Big Grill’s biggest Little Grillers programme to date will take over a much larger space on Saturday and Sunday with science, circus, sensory play, puppetry, music, creative activities and Europe’s Biggest Kids Rave / Baby Rave.
There is plenty of food involved too: Janet Liu will host a hands on dumpling skewer masterclass; DJ BBQ will lead campfire cooking with hot dogs and s’mores; DJ BBQ and Marcus O’Laoire will throw a kids’ burger disco party; and Reggie White is hosting a kids’ pizza party.
Under 12s go free with a ticket holding adult, and all Little Grillers activities are included with festival entry.
The Little Grillers area is open from 11am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
ALSO NEW FOR 2026
The Big Grill will also feature 10 independent breweries, alongside a host of cocktails, drinks and bars across the festival.
There is a major change to Saturday too.
For the first time in 12 years, the old daytime/evening session changeover is officially gone. Previously, Saturday daytime ticket holders had to leave the festival before the evening session began; this year, there’s no clearing the site between sessions. Instead, The Big Grill will run continuously throughout Saturday, with timed entry from 11am, 2pm and 5.30pm, giving festival goers more time on site, better flow around the park, more space, more seating and smoother access to food throughout the day.
With exactly one week to go, Saturday Full Day tickets are currently the fastest selling ticket for Big Grill 2026, with limited availability remaining, while Whole Hog passes and Rancho Relaxo VIP tickets are also selling fast.
The Big Grill founder Andy Noonan said:
“For us, The Big Grill always starts with the food. We want people to come into Herbert Park next week and eat things they’d normally have to jump on a plane to find, but also see just how good the restaurants cooking here in Dublin and Ireland are when you give them fire to play with.
“You can eat Elliott Moss’s whole hog barbecue, dunk Holy Smoke’s pit beef into a pot of jus, have Afghan-meets-Texas brisket on naan, then walk across the park for Bahay’s pig’s head tacos or Achara’s Thai beef on a beef fat roti. And this year there’s more going on around the food than ever, from learning with people like Tuffy Stone to the biggest Little Grillers programme we’ve ever done. It’s a massive cookout in the middle of Dublin, with some of the best people in the world doing the cooking.”
“Or if you really want to maximise your experience this year, our VIP experience Rancho Relaxo is basically The Big Grill with a few extra comforts… a guaranteed seat, your own bar, posh loos and somewhere to take five before heading straight back into the action.”
BIG GRILL 2026 – THE DETAILS
Herbert Park, Dublin 4
Thursday 13th – Sunday 16th August 2026
Thursday & Friday: Early Entry 3pm | Regular Entry 5pm
Saturday: Full Day 11am | Regular Entry 2pm | Evening Entry 5.30pm
Sunday: Early Entry 11am | Regular Entry 2pm
Tickets start from €30.03, with Whole Hog weekend passes offering great value with four day access, and Rancho Relaxo VIP options also available.
Under-12s go free with a ticket holding adult. Over 12s require a full price ticket and must be accompanied by an adult/guardian.
Tickets and the full programme are available at biggrillfestival.com. Follow The Big Grill on Instagram @biggrillfestival for news and updates.
