Full Rundown of the Hot Luck Festival Going on This Memorial Day Weekend

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There are music festivals and there are food festivals. Then there’s Hot Luck Festival in Austin, Texas. Hot Luck Festival combines the best of food and music into one massive, legendary, spectacular event annually in Austin on Memorial Day Weekend, put on by some of Austin’s greats: Mohawk owner James Moody, Feast Portland co-founder Mike Thelin, and world-famous James Beard award-winner Aaron Franklin.

Hot Luck Festival 2022 will go from May 26th – May 29th and feature some of the best chefs from around the world and hottest local and national music acts. With four different “themed” days and different offerings on each, you can get a full encompassing experience if you go on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. But, if you’re feeling saucy you can grab a full weekend ticket and spend the weekend drowning in good tunes and good BBQ. There are better ways to go.

By now you’re catching our drift. Hot Luck Festival’s return is good for our souls and it’s primed to be bigger and better than ever this year. Check out our guide to the weekend’s festivities and as usual, we look forward to seeing you around Austin this weekend!

Editor’s Note: Click on each individual date headline for ticket links. Full food lineup pulled from Eater Austin.

Thursday, May 26th

Giddy Up @ Mohawk

Food

Chris Bianco, the pizza maker behind Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix
Elias Cairo of charcuterie spot Olympia Provisions in Portland
Joe Beddia, the pizza maker behind Pizzeria Beddia in Philadelphia
Reem Assil of Arabic bakery Reem’s in Oakland

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

Rebecca Masson of bakery Fluff Bake Bar in Houston

Austin chefs:

Fermín Núñez of Mexican restaurant Suerte (and Eater Austin’s chef of 2018)
Fiore Tedesco of Italian restaurant L’Oca d’Oro
Mike Diaz of Korean restaurant Oseyo

Music

DJ Jazzy Jeff of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and overall cool dude fame.

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Friday, May 27

Hi, How Are You? @ Franklin Barbecue

Food

Out-of-towners:

Amanda Shulman of prix fixe restaurant Her Place Supper Club in Philadelphia
Andrew Taylor and Arlin Smith of seafood restaurant Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland, Maine
Ashley Christensen of Southern restaurant Poole’s Diner in Raleigh
Jordan Rubin of Thai restaurant Crispy Gai in Portland, Maine
Mei Lin of now-closed Asian restaurant Nightshade in Los Angeles
Shota Nakajima of Osaka-influenced street food restaurant Taku in Seattle (and also a Top Chef finalist this past season)

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

Chris Shepherd of restaurant group Underbelly in Houston
Erin Smith and Patrick Feges of barbecue restaurant Feges BBQ in Houston
Misti Norris of New Texan restaurant Petra and the Beast in Dallas

Austin chefs:

Aaron Franklin of barbecue restaurant Franklin Barbecue (duh)
Kristine Kittrell of soon-to-open hotel restaurant-slash-second location of much-lauded Savannah chef Mashama Bailey’s the Diner Bar
Laura Sawicki, the pastry chef extraordinaire who recently left her positions at Launderette and Fresa’s
Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Caribbean restaurant Canje
Todd Duplechan of New Texan restaurant Lenoir
Tyson Cole of Japanese restaurant Uchi

Music

Gentleman Rogues
Superchunk
Sweet Spirit
Sailor Poon

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Saturday, May 28

Al Fuego at Wild Onion Ranch

Food

Out-of-towners:

Alon Shaya of Middle Eastern restaurant Saba in New Orleans and Denver
Ashleigh Shanti of fish fry pop-up Good Hot Fish in Asheville
Brad Leone, a Bon Appetit personality
Carlo Lamagna of Filipino restaurant Magna Kusina in Portland
Colin Yoshimoto and Earl Ninsom of Thai barbecue restaurant Eem in Portland
Jeremy Charles of seafood restaurant Raymonds in St. Johns, Canada
Jori Jayne and Jose Enrique of Puerto Rican restaurant José Enrique in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Maneet Chauhan of Indian restaurant Chauhan Ale & Masala House in Nashville
Mason Hereford of sandwich shop Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans
Matt Horn of barbecue Horn Barbecue in Oakland
Ravi Kapur of Hawaiian-ish restaurant Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco
Sarah Grueneberg of Italian restaurant Monteverde in Chicago
Shota Nakajima of Seattle’s Taku is also cooking at this event
Stuart Brioza of seafood restaurant the Anchovy Bar in San Francisco
Todd Pulsenelli of New American with Creole takes restaurant Hotel Chloe in New Orleans
Zak Pelaccio, the chef behind now-closed restaurant Fish & Game in Hudson, New York

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

Casey Wilcox of New Texan restaurant Little Trouble in Lockhart
Dawn Burrell of forthcoming Afro-Asian restaurant Late August in Houston (she was also a Top Chef finalist in the most recent season)
Diego Galicia and Rico Torres of Mexican restaurant Mixtli in San Antonio
Donny Sirisavath of now-closed Laotian restaurant Khao Noodle Shop in Dallas (he is going to open an Asian-ish fried chicken restaurant instead)
John Tesar steakhouse restaurant Knife in Dallas
Nicola Blaque of Caribbean restaurant the Jerk Shack in San Antonio (which was also named one of Eater’s best new restaurants in the country in 2019)

Austin chefs:

Amanda Rockman of the New Waterloo hospitality group
Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu of New Texan hotel restaurant Lutie’s
Christopher Schaefer of New American hotel restaurant Geraldine’s
Davis Turner of seafood truck Huckleberry
Edgar Rico of Mexican restaurant Nixta Taqueria (which also won Eater Austin’s restaurant of the year in 2021)
Evan LeRoy of new-school barbecue truck Leroy & Lewis (which also won Eater Austin’s food truck of 2017)
Jakub Czyszczon of New American hotel restaurant Garrison
James Wilson of East Austin Hotel
Jules Stoddart and Michael Fojtasek of Southern restaurant Olamaie (their fast-casual restaurant Little Ola’s won Eater Austin’s best pivot of 2021)
Kareem El-Ghayesh of Egyptian barbecue pop-up KG BBQ
Kevin Fink repping New American restaurant Hestia
Rick Lopez of Mexican restaurant La Condesa
Shane Stark of seafood restaurant Mongers
Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of New American wine restaurant Birdie’s (which also won Eater Austin’s neighborhood wine bar in 2021)
Yoshi Okai of omakase restaurant Otoko