Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival

Vancouver’s cobblestone streets will be dripping with sweet and smoky sauce this weekend as the Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival takes place Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st. Carrall Street will be closed to traffic and the neighbourhood will turn into a festival space complete with live music, picnic tables, and some of the city’s best barbecue.

Photo courtesy of Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival

Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival

Entertainment includes Bend Sinister, The Sheets, and The Deep End while the following restaurants participate in the BBQ & Chili cook-off:

The Blarney Stone, Chill Winston, The Irish Heather, TUC Craft Kitchen, Lamplighter, Peckinpah, Gringo, The Hastings Warehouse, Calabash, The Charles Bar, Deacon’s Corner, Railtown Café.

The festivities will take place on the 200 block of Carrall Street, between Water St (Gassy Jack statue of Maple Tree Square) and Cordova Street (passing by the entrance to blood alley). The entire street will be closed to vehicular traffic. Large tents and barbecues will line the street which will be filled with picnic tables, a beer tent, restaurant patios, and a large musical stage hosting live music all weekend long.

Visitors can enjoy a wing eating competition, brisket, chili, pig roasts, dancing, music, appearances by Jason Garrison (NHL), Georgia Simmerling (Canadian Ski Cross Team), Angus Reid (BC Lions), Jordan Harvey (Whitecaps) and more. This year’s festival will be in support Athletics for Kids.

Food stations will be open both days from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. Saturday’s festivities will run from 12:00pm to 5:00pm and Sunday’s from 12:00pm to 10:00pm finishing up with Bend Sinister’s performance at The Blarney Stone. View the event schedule online and follow The Blarney Stone on Twitter for more information.