Hogs for the Cause 2023 is happening March 31st and April 1st. The festival starts at 3:30pm on Friday and 11:00am on Saturday.

In New Orleans at the UNO Lakefront Arena Festival Grounds located at 6801 Franklin Ave, New Orleans, LA 70122

Tickets for the festival will go on sale early alongside the lineup announcement in early December.

Kids ages 10 and under get in free! No ticket necessary.

Things you can (and should) bring:

• Blankets
• Chairs
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses, hats, fanny packs
• Strollers
• Personal cameras (no detachable zoom lens or flash)
• A poncho
• And other typical New Orleans festival items.

Please do not bring:

• Outside food and beverages
• Pets or animals
• Glass Bottles or Containers
• Coolers or Large Bags
• Large Umbrellas
• Bicycles, skateboards, scooters
• Weapons of any kind
• Explosives, fireworks, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia (because we know that prescription for “glaucoma” is bogus)
• Unauthorized video, camera, or audio recording equipment
• Selling of merchandise or unauthorized/unlicensed vending
• Unauthorized solicitations, handbills, stickers, sampling, give-a-ways, etc.

If you have any questions about bringing medical necessities, please e-mail us at info@hogsforthecause.org.

Hogs For The Cause is a rain or shine event, so please plan accordingly.  New Orleans weather is often unpredictable so check the weather before heading out to the festival.

In the event that dangerous conditions occur on site, we may change our schedule or even have to cancel.  In those cases, we will notify all ticket buyers via email and on our social media channels.

"Swap Night" allows you to pick up your wristbands ahead of time and skip the box office line at the festival!

For the 2023 event, Swap Night will take place on Wednesday, March 29th from 2pm-8pm at:

Avenue Pub
1732 St Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70130
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Hogs for the Cause 2023 is happening March 31st and April 1st. The festival starts at 3:30pm on Friday and 11:00am on Saturday.

In New Orleans at the UNO Lakefront Arena Festival Grounds located at 6801 Franklin Ave, New Orleans, LA 70122

Yes! Hogs for the Cause is a great event for people of all ages.  In fact, children 10 and under get in free and do not need a ticket.

While it varies every year depending on what the teams/sponsors bring, there are often slides, kids areas, and other activities for the little ones.

Our gates open Friday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 11:00am

On Friday, the final musical performance ends around 10:00 pm, but many of the teams start their afterparties around that time while their meats cook for the following day.  These parties can often last early into the morning.

On Saturday, the final musical performance ends around 7:30 pm, with the award ceremony starting afterward and usually lasting until about 10:00 pm.

Hogs For The Cause is a rain or shine event, so please plan accordingly.  New Orleans weather is often unpredictable so check the weather before heading out to the festival.

In the event that dangerous conditions occur on site, we may change our schedule or even have to cancel.  In those cases, we will notify all ticket buyers via email and on our social media channels.

Things you can (and should) bring:

• Blankets
• Chairs
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses, hats, fanny packs
• Strollers
• Personal cameras (no detachable zoom lens or flash)
• A poncho
• And other typical New Orleans festival items.

Please do not bring:

• Outside food and beverages (c’mon people, it’s a fundraiser not a freeloadin’ picnic)
• Pets or animals
• Glass Bottles or Containers
• Coolers or Large Bags
• Large Umbrellas
• Bicycles, skateboards, scooters
• Weapons of any kind
• Explosives, fireworks, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia (because we know that prescription for “glaucoma” is bogus)
• Unauthorized video, camera, or audio recording equipment
• Selling of merchandise or unauthorized/unlicensed vending
• Unauthorized solicitations, handbills, stickers, sampling, give-a-ways, etc.

If you have any questions about bringing medical necessities, please e-mail us at info@hogsforthecause.org.

The schedule page gets posted usually the month leading into the festival.  There you can find all of the artists that are playing and when/what stage they are playing on.

No.  We love our furry friends but despite pets being allowed in the early days of the festival, we do not allow any pets at the event.

If you have a service animal or a medical necessity to bring a pet, please email  info@hogsforthecause.org.

You cannot re-enter if you buy a general admission ticket. Re-entry is allowed if you have a Boss Hog VIP ticket or Goin' Ham Super VIP ticket. 

We typically post the festival map in the week leading up to the event.  Feel free to see if it is up here: https://hogsfest.org/map/

Hogs for the Cause provides accessible entrances for guests with disabilities at the main entrance of the festival grounds as well as ADA restrooms. Please email info@hogsforthecause.org for more information.

With all the delicious food at Hogs, it gets quite busy during regular meal times.  We recommend planning your trip to Hogs to avoid our busiest times of Friday from 5:00 PM-7:00 PM and Saturday from 11:30 AM-2:30 PM.

If you ordered before March 20th, 2023 - Your wristbands will be shipped to the address you entered when purchasing tickets.  The delivery will come from USPS and you'll receive a notification in your email when they are shipped.

If you ordered on or after March 20th, 2023 - Your wristbands can be picked up at one of our swap nights (information coming soon) or at the box office.

Our ticketing company starting shipping wristbands the week starting mid-March.  When your ticket order is shipped, you will receive an email notification on the email that you bought tickets with.

Please be patient while all orders get fulfilled.  If you have not received your wristbands by March 29th, please email support@wrstbnd.com

No.  When you place an order for "tickets" on our website, you will receive physical wristbands that allow you entry into the festival.

If you ordered after the shipping cutoff date, then your order confirmation will have a PDF with a barcode on it. This is not your ticket into the event.  It must be exchanged for wristbands at our "swap night" or box office before you can enter.

Registering your wristband allows you to attach your name, email and payment information (for food/drink on site) to your account.  This allows us to verify your purchase, fix any issues you might have on site and replace your wristband if it gets lost or damaged.

While registering is not mandatory, your wristband is also the only way to pay for food and drink at the event so you must register it if you want to eat/drink at the event.

Once you receive your wristband, you can register it here: hogsfest.org/register

If you have registered it, we will be able to re-issue you the wristband at the customer service line of the box office.

If you ordered tickets on or after March 20th (for the 2023 event), you can pick up your wristbands at our designated "Swap Night", March 29th at Avenue Pub from 2pm-8pm.

If you cannot make it, your wristbands can be picked up at the festival box office.

Our food and drink vendors do not accept cash at the festival.

Your wristband to the festival can be connected directly to your credit card during the wristband registration process. When you pay, you simply 'scan' your wristband on the reader and it will charge your card directly.

This helps speed up lines significantly and provides a streamlined way for us to track how much each team has fundraised.

You can bring cash and visit our "top up" stations at the customer service booths within the festival. This amount will be "loaded" onto your wristband and any purchase will be debited from it.

Your wristband is linked directly to your credit card, meaning you are only charged for what you spend.  No refunds are needed.

If you don't have a card and need to 'top up' via cash, a refund email will be sent after the event with details on how to redeem.

Yes, in the days leading into the event, we'll post the menus here: https://hogsfest.org/menus/

We sometimes are able to post menus earlier than that, but our barbecue teams plan their menus independently of the event (and in top secret!), so we often do not have information on what they will be serving until close to the event.

Friday at Hogs has been dubbed Bacon and Wings Night.  Friday is the opening day of the festival and features a full music lineup across multiple stages.  Since the teams are often cooking their meats for Saturday's competition throughout the day/night, we added a Bacon Competition for fans to enjoy.  The teams all cook up and serve their most decadent bacon dishes.

Since 2021, we've also added the addition of a Wings Competition to the mix, so come out Friday and enjoy chicken wings of all flavors and varieties.

Yes, especially towards the end of the event.  The barbecue teams try to bring enough food to last the whole event.  However, since how much food to bring is often a "best guess" it can and often does sell out.  This is especially true for popular dishes.

If you see a dish you really want, we highly recommend getting there early.

Yes. Although our competing teams generally only offer meat-based dishes, there will be vegetarian food options available.

Food - The barbecue teams set their prices so it highly varies depending on the item.  Typically you can expect to pay between $10-20 for a meal.

Drinks are usually between $5-10.

When we post a map in the days leading to the event, it will contain a list of locations for each of the teams.  You can find the map here.

Every team sells food (while their supplies last)! Teams do sell out, so we strongly encourage a “get there early, eat everything” plan of attack.

There are 4 main judged food categories:

• Pork Ribs
• Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder
• Whole Hog
• Porkpourri

In order to be considered for the “Grand Champion” title, a team must enter at least three of the four above food categories and raise at least $4,000.00 in fundraising. In addition to the food categories, teams may compete in the remaining lagniappe categories also.

We have many bars located throughout our festival site serving a variety of beers (both domestic and craft), cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.

Yes! Our bars will have non-alcoholic and kid-friendly options.

Our food and drink vendors do not accept cash at the festival.

Your wristband to the festival can be connected directly to your credit card during the wristband registration process. This helps speed up lines significantly and provides a streamlined way for us to track how much each team has fundraised.

Hogs For The Cause is a 2-day barbecue festival full of food, music, beer, and fundraising. Join us for Bacon & Wings Night on Friday and BBQ all day Saturday. Dance the weekend away to both local and national artists while savoring all of the delicious food options from bacon boudin sushi to smokin' ribs and so much more. Join us for the tastiest BBQ festival in New Orleans!

Yes. You can make direct donations to Hogs for the Cause online or by mail. Visit our donations page for more details. To mail a donation directly to Hogs for the Cause, send checks to P.O. Box 792300, New Orleans, LA 70179. Remember: Your donations are tax-deductible to the full extent as allowed by the IRS.

In 2009, Hogs for the Cause hosted a pig roast to raise money for a boy named Ben Sarrat. Li’l Ben had been diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer. In that first year, roughly 200 people showed up to watch a pig turn slowly on a spit and raise money to help Ben’s family. Fast-forward a few short years (eight years and counting), and Hogs for the Cause is now one of the largest barbecue competitions and music festivals in the country. Our charitable purpose remains the same: helping families fighting pediatric brain cancer.

Registration for teams opens in October and registration must be completed online. You must fill out the form and pay your site fee and cleanup deposit when you register.