Punk bands and pork lollipops: Beer & BBQ returns to a new venue
After departing its decade-long home at the Adelaide Showgrounds, a much-loved music festival has announced its return, with a lineup featuring a satirical ’90s cult favourite and plenty of craft beer.
Almost a year on from calling last drinks in 2025, Beer & BBQ Festival will set up smokers and a stage at a new venue this winter, the co-founders announced this week.
The multi-day indie festival celebrating music and brewing ran for a decade at the Adelaide Showground until Gareth Lewis and Aron Sandow called time on the festival’s original form as the cost-of-living crisis bit.
This year, the scaled-back festival will span July 10-11 at the Drive, which Gareth and Aaron say is more accessible from the city and has “a big shiny stage to play with”.
Leading the lineup is seven-piece satirical alt-rock band TISM – an acronym for This Is Serious Mum – who always perform in balaclavas. The band gained a cult reputation off the back of their 1995 song ‘(He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River’ about River Phoenix.
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Joining them are American singer-songwriter Ben Kweller, Melbourne art rock band Tropical Fuck Storm, Sydney punk band Speed and recent Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Tim Rodgers.
Indie rock band Ratcat will return to the Drive for their first Adelaide gig in three decades after supporting INXS at the same venue in 1991.
Another 90s deep cut, ARIA-award nominees the Mavis’s will play, along with musician and provocateur Kirin J Callinan.
Local talent Brad Chicken & the Bootstraps, Bromham, E Coyote, Jon Ann and more will also join the lineup.
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For the foodies, fire cooking and low and slow are on show with Texas-inspired ACT-based Big Box BBQ making the trip.
NSW-based Carolina Smoke will bring their award-winning pork belly lollipops to the festival, which are thick-cut pork belly skewers smoked with Carolina rub and coated in a peach bourbon glaze.
Supporting the hospitality and brewing industry is a core part of the festival’s ethos, which Gareth and Aaron said was front-of-mind as they adapted the festival to a more sustainable model for this year.
Gareth told CityMag last year that the economic challenges to the brewing and hospitality industries factored into their decision to make last year’s festival the last of its kind.
He said over the decade of putting on Beer & BBQ, they saw the craft beer movement boom, with increases in people buying booze to drink at home during Covid, before a dip in sales and administration challenges hit some.
South Australian craft brewer Big Shed Brewing collapsed late last year, while interstate brewers that worked with Beer & BBQ, like Fox Friday, entered voluntary administration in 2025, following Victorian brewer Molly Rose appointing liquidators.
“Beer & BBQ Festival has always been about supporting the brewers, the chefs and the artists and they need support more than ever,” Gareth said about the new iteration of Beer & BBQ.
“This grown-up festival in the heart of the city means they can put their beers in the hands of more punters than ever before.”
To sip on or scull, dozens of brewers are featured from locals at Bowden Brewing to Victoria’s Noodledoor Brewing, along with wine, gin and other brewed beverages on show.
The returning Beer & BBQ Festival is on July 10-11 at the Drive, with tickets are on sale from Thursday at 11 am via the Beer & BBQ website.
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