In 2022, after welcoming over 21,000 beer, BBQ and music fans, Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival officially became the largest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. For 2023 the festival will be even bigger featuring a jam-packed music line up, highlighted by the likes of The Living End, Dune Rats, DJ royalty Dexter (founding member of The Avalanches) and Magic Dirt.
Adding to the excitement will be a very special Australian-wide international beer Collab with Ukrainian brewery 2085, which will double as a campaign to raise funds for providing emergency aid inside Ukraine to the fighters and families. Joining 2085 will be literally thousands of beers, huge BBQ offering and of course to cap it off the event will be again MC’d by Outlaw country rocker, the incomparable Henry Wagons.
Extending the musical program in 2023 and Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival is adding another live music stage – that’s 5 stages in total, along with rebranding the main stage as the ‘Ken West Stage’ in homage to the Big Day Out founder’s enduring memory at the Adelaide Showground.
On stage, Friday night will be headlined by Australian Punk Rock Royalty, The Living End, who will be joined by Geelong’s greatest export Magic Dirt and former Little Birdy lead singer Katy Steele whilst pioneering DJ Dexter (ex-The Avalanches) will be showing off his 4X DMC Australian Champion skills to close the night with a party.
On the Saturday night ABBF really flexes its muscles with Queensland’s party rock trio Dune Rats, Melbourne’s The Bennies, western Sydney hip hop collective, 1300 and fresh off playing WOMADelaide rising hip hop stars from the APY lands Dem Mob and Sunshine Coast Rockers (and founding member of The Chats) Pricey.
The local contingent is as strong as ever featuring, Loose Units, Juliette Seizure and the Tremor-Dolls, Street Legal, Lily Rose and (Tony Modra’s favourite band) Stiff Necks. These groups will be joined by the Untapped battle of the band’s winners for the comp on the Saturday. The Untapped tour, which traverses SA to uncover the best new regional talent in the weeks ahead of the main event, will stop in at Shifty Lizard Brewing (McLaren Vale/Kaurna – May 20th), Little Rippa Brewing (Mt Gambier/Bungandidji – May 27th) Watsacowie Brewing (York Peninsula/Nharangga, June 3rd) and Wooldshed Brewery (Riverland/Erawirung – June 10th).
As part of the festival, there is an Australian first beer collab. In late 2022 Beer & BBQ HQ noticed that a host of American brewers were collaborating to produce a beer with a Ukrainian brewery, where all of the funds were directed to assist in their effort to defend democracy. Beer & BBQ Festival reached out directly to 2085 Brewery in Kyiv and the enthusiasm of 2085 founder, Naz Drebot, to use beer as an avenue to spread the word about the Ukrainian plight spurred the festival to investigate this collaboration opportunity further.
Now the festival embarks on possibly the most ambitious international collaboration series ever undertaken in the world. Whilst men of a “fighting age” cannot leave the Ukraine in case they need to be called to the frontline (in fact one 2085 brewer has been called up to serve in just the past fortnight) Beer & BBQ Festival is facilitating collaboration brews that will be launched exclusively on Friday July 14th with 2085 and Little Bang and Mismatch (SA), Co-Conspirators (Vic), Batch and (NSW) and Range (QLD).
The massive full brewer line-up will be release at the end of April.
The full BBQ lineup won’t be released until May but there are a few tasty morsels announced, to sink your teeth into.
Alana Brabin and Sarah Turner from 2022 ABBF standouts Big Bad Wolf are curating a very special program of Indigenous BBQ from around the world, aptly named World’s on Fire.
World’s On Fire welcomes Something Wild’s native Australian flavours, Timorese chef Cesar Gaio, Moi An’s Vietnamese Street Food, The African Kitchen Project presented by the African Women’s Federation of SA and Sicily Up In Smoke by Melbourne via Palermo’s Lorena Corso.
Low’n’slow devotees won’t be disappointed as NSW heavyweights Black Iron Smokers are dragging over the big boy smoker. Local legends Sneaky Pickle are collaborating with QLD trophy winners Signature Smoke and local fried chicken experts Cheekies will be hooking up with Australian BBQ royalty Fancy Hanks for their third visit to Beer & BBQ Festival. Also making their Adelaide debut are Penrith’s fine-dining trained, Michelin kitchen experienced, smashed patty guru’s Burger Head.
Director of ABBF Aaron Sandow says the festival is going to be the biggest yet.
“2022 was a huge year for ABBF and we were blown away by the turn out. This year we’ve dialled it up and will be bigger, badder, fatter and louder again! It’s a beast.”
“Another live stage means we will be able to host more diverse artists and we can’t wait to light the fires in July” Said Sandow.
Minister for Arts, Andrea Michaels MP, said: “The Malinauskas Government is happy to support the Beer and BBQ festival. As Australia’s only UNESCO City of Music, South Australians are proud of our music culture. The Beer and BBQ festival is a highlight of our music calendar and this year’s event will be better than ever.”
As well as everything else on offer the will be new live art shows, fire installations, secret drinking dens, live wrestling, BMX & skateboarding, axe throwing, Beer Bod comp, carnival rides, tattooing, motorbikes, DJs and the unveiling of the Kevin Bacon Spa & Wellness Retreat.
BEER AND BBQ FESTIVAL
14th TO THE 16TH JULY
ADELAIDE SHOWGROUND
For more information and tickets: www.beerbbqfest.com.au