🎵 2 Nights of Live Music 🥓 Bacon, BBQ, Burgers, Beer, Booze Competitions 🏆 Awards
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2026
Gulf Coast beer, bacon & Beyond
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A NEW 2-DAY EXPERIENCE! FORMERLY THE GULF COAST BEER & BACON FESTIVAL.
March 13–14, 2026
GENERAL ADMISSION 7-10PM
VIP ADMISSION 6-10PM (AN HOUR EARLY)
Long Beach/HARPER MCCAUGHAN TOWN GREEN
Downtown Long Beach at the intersection of Jeff Davis Avenue and 3rd Street: This year we are taking the event outside - full stage with live music, more fun, & just a great time!!
This is an event wrapped in Bacon along with BBQ & Burger, and all types of food tastings along with Beer, Cocktails, Chocolate & so much more!!
BBQ, bourbon, and beer starting the night off with Mike Halat followed by STARZ Band Live, tearing it up on the City of Long Beach/Island View Casino stage.
But here's the twist - we're bringing the heat with a 1st Responders Chili Cook-Off with community leaders.
Local heroes & the community compete for $250 and the title. You get to vote. VIP gets you in early with a special seating area and exclusive tastings. Plus, there's a silent auction because why not make the night even better?
Saturday is coming in hot with Beer, bacon, and burgers! Entertainment for the night starts with ALMOST SKYNARD, followed by GHOSTS OF GAMBLERS. These bands are set to bring the heat on the City of Long Beach/Island View Casino Stage.
The silent auction will be online Friday & Saturday. VIP treatment with early entry, primo seating, and special tastings.
Saturday just became your new favorite night of the week.
Expect a Bacon, BBQ, Burger & food lover's dream lineup of food tastings, craft beer tastings from local and regional breweries, along with Mississippi Distilleries & so much more! Along with giving out 3 Golden Tickets this year, there will be People's Choice Awards, live music Friday & Saturday nights on the Island View Casino/Long Beach Stage at 6 pm, arts & crafts vendors plus VIP experiences you'll talk about for months. This is a great marketing event, and the main Fundraiser for Mississippi Heroes, so your support goes a long way to the mission of supporting family, professional, and community caregivers across Mississippi while building wheelchair ramps for those in need. Our goal is to finish 2025 strong with the help of your early ticket purchase (2 ramps per week)
Don't just taste and watch - jump into the fun! From cooking competitions to the Chili Cookoff Showdown, there's a way for everyone to compete, win prizes, and be part of the festival excitement.
Get In On The Action!
GOLDEN TICKET & PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS
We will have Bacon, Barbecue, & Burger Golden Tickets. We will also have People's Choice with trophies for all who are part of this fundraiser. The Golden Ticket winners receive entry to compete in the World Food Championships - it is our commitment to our Gulf Coast Chef's and Restaurants. Trophies will be hand-made by Steve Barney with a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.
BACON, BBQ, Burger, BEER, chocolate & COCKTAIL COMPETITIONS (Restaurants AND OTHER VENDORS)
Professional and amateur divisions for the best drinks & food creations on the Gulf Coast with People's Choice Awards and opportunity to walk away with a Golden Ticket to the World Food Championships in Indianapolis with opportunity to win Grand Prize of over $100,000.
Festival attendees vote for their favorites across multiple categories - Best Brew, Best Home Brew, Best Bacon, BBQ & Burger creations, best booth, crowd favorite, and more.
CHILI COOK-OFF FRIDAY NIGHT (New for 2026!)
Join the Chili Cookoff right along our local 1st Responders. In 2026 we will start a First Responders Grant Program, funds will go into the 1st Responders Grant Program to help offset financial needs. There will be a $250 prize to the winning chili. 1st Responders vs the community - a way to build community. All 1st responders are invited to make a team and compete along with community leaders: emergency services, firefighters, police, EMTs - compete for bragging rights and prizes. OF NOTE: This will be an outside event with limited electricity. Bring your own setup, tent & supplies (but let us know if you need help and we will take care of it for you). Katherine Sutton with Weichert Realtors® Gulf Properties will be supplying tasting cups and utensils as needed.
Every sip and every bite goes toward building wheelchair ramps, celebrating unsung caregiving heroes, and keeping our Gulf Coast community lifted. We are also starting a 1st Responders Grant Program that we will be kicking off in 2026.
Beer & Bacon Fest is the largest fundraiser for Mississippi Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting family caregivers across Mississippi. In 2025, we raised $45,000 with this event and built 45+ ramps. This year, we're aiming even bigger.
