Food

Big Grill Festival: Dublin 4 is about to go up in smoke, here’s why

All you need to know about the four-day celebration of barbecue at Herbert Park this weekend, including what’s on the menu

Barbecue expert: Chris Lilly and the Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Competition Cooking Team

Marie Claire Digby's face
Marie Claire Digby
Thu Aug 11 2022 - 05:00

What is it?

It’s probably the hottest food festival of the summer, on what looks like being the hottest weekend of the year. More than 50 chefs, pit masters and big names in the world of barbecue and grilling, from the US, the UK and Ireland, are headlining a food festival that celebrates cooking over fire — no gas or electric allowed. There will be demos, masterclasses, talks and discussions, plenty of food to taste, bars serving cocktails, beers and wines, and entertainment.

How do I get tickets and what are the opening hours?

More than 25,000 visitors are expected through the gates over the four days. Pent-up demand for the return of this festival, last held in 2019, has seen ticket sales soar. There are still some tickets available for all four days, but the VIP Rancho Relaxo area is sold out, apart from on Sunday. The Thursday and Friday sessions are 4.30pm-10pm. Saturday and Sunday tickets are for noon-4.30pm and 5.30pm-10pm (9pm on Sunday). Tickets are on sale at biggrillfestival.com and may also be available at the box office on site, if not sold out.

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The Big Grill in 2019

What’s on the menu?

There are more than 20 restaurants taking part, including some of the best-known international barbecue experts including Chris Lilly and the Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Competition Cooking Team (winners of 17 World BBQ Championships); Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ, from Austin, Texas; Kimberly Plafke & Meathook and Billy Durney’s Hometown Bar-B-Que, both from Brooklyn, NYC; Mike Johnson from Sugarfire Smokehouse, St Louis; From The Ashes BBQ in London; UK chef Neil Rankin’s new plant-based venture Symplicity Foods.

Irish restaurants taking part include Lignum; Hang Dai; Chimac; Bahay; Mister S; Bites By Kwanghi; Reyna; Los Chicanos; and Pitt Bros. The cooking-over-live-fire-only rule also applies here, so their menus of food for sale will all be cooked in this way, which is quite something.

The signature dishes will include: Hometown Bar-B-Que’s New York x Cork cheesesteak: Woodfired tri tip, caramelised onions and smoked Gubbeen cheese sauce — a collaboration between Billy Durney and Fingal Ferguson. From the Ashes BBQ, smoked pork shoulder doughnut. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q barbecue chicken with original white barbecue sauce and chargrilled corn. Mister S’s smoked Castledermot lamb and charred gem, black garlic caesar and hot sauce. Neil Rankin’s The Symplicity kebab with chilli and garlic sauce and Turkish onions (V). Sugarfire Smokehouse birria brisket tacos. Reyna’s liver of lamb and their Adana kebab. Aishling Moore’s goldie fish kofta with garlic scape sauce. Lignum’s flambadou Connemara oyster with dashi and brown butter. Our Table’s peri peri lamb nyama chóma. Bites by Kwanghi barbecue char siu belly of Irish pork and clay pot rice with mushrooms. Reggie White’s pizza with pork sausage, friarelli and Calabrian chilli. Hang Dai’s Peking duck.

Hot wing challenge at The Big Grill 2019

All that fire and heat is making me thirsty; what about drinks?

With temperatures set to soar, the organisers say there will be drinking water stations across the site, where guest can refill their reusable drink containers. If it’s something stronger you are looking for, craft beer bars from Black Donkey, O’Hara’s, Dot Brewing, Galway Bay, Kinnegar Brewing, Porterhouse, Rye River and Wicklow Brewery, and ciders from Dan Kelly’s, Legacy Cider and MacIvors will be on sale. Irish-made ginger beer from Zingibeer, honey refreshers from Beekon Batches and Kinsale Mead will be poured too. Neighbourhood Wine will bring their barbecue top hits to the festival, including Matsu, Combel la Serre, Gut Oggau, Craven, Le Grappin, Craven and Hacienda Lopez de Haro, along with launching new vintages from Selene Beaujolais, Chin Chin Vinho Verde and Splash! Pet Nat. Bars will also serve spirits and cocktails.

I’m fed and watered, and want to learn more, what else is there to do?

Bastecamp, hosted by Dee Laffan, and Brewcamp, hosted by Gillian Boyle, have comprehensive programmes of masterclasses, discussions, tasting sessions, running throughout the festival, with a different line-up each day. For details see the daily timetable here. There will be music at every sessions, and for the best fun of all, a daily hot chilli eating competition on the main stage at 7pm.

Can I bring my kids?

Yes. Under-12s go free at all sessions and there will be children’s entertainment on Saturday and Sunday, noon-4.30pm. Under-18s can attend, but must be accompanied by an adult, and full ticket price applies.

Anything else I need to know?

The Big Grill currency has been abandoned in favour of contactless payment. Prices for food will range from €7 upwards; craft beer from €3.50 a glass and €6.50 a pint. Long drinks and cocktails from €8. Parking is limited so it might be better to use public transport. Lansdowne Road and Sandymount are the closest Dart stations, and the location is served by the 46a, 145, 7 and 39a buses.