Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — July 9, 2025 — You only have a few more months until fun and competition hit Main Street, as the Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Festival is coming back for 2025.

The festival will be held Sept. 26-27, according to a Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Fest Facebook post. There is no entry fee, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Katie Dorton, who helps with the event, said it started in 2009 as a small community barbecue competition. Over time, it has grown to include new additions, including music, food trucks and kid zones.

A new addition this year will be VIP passes. Dorton said the passes grant attendees access to VIP tents where they can sit down and have food and drinks.

“We have couches, lounge chairs, and we have somebody that comes in and cooks good for us,” she said. “It’s just a really laid-back area for you to come and hang out and just have to walk the whole time and down the street.”

Dorton said the number of passes will be limited so as not to overwhelm sponsors. She added that she had the idea to bring in the tents for their current sponsors to encourage new sponsor donations.

“We’re always going to work with the city, but we want to be able to be independent as well as help raise our own money and have our budget and everything,” she said.

While she couldn’t offer details on the number of passes and their costs, Dorton said BBQ Fest workers will work with their sponsors to give attendees a good experience.

“It depends on how much food they’re bringing in and things like that, and I’ll wait on numbers from them to find out how many people we can actually handle,” she said.

Additionally, Dorton said they are going to try to bring some new things for teenagers and children to do, which will most likely be located on the east side of the Huntington Avenue area.

At this time, Dorton could not offer details regarding the event’s musical performance lineup, although she said she hopes more information will be released in the coming weeks.

“We have all the contracts there in hand, and everybody’s agreed verbally, just getting them signed back to actually release things,” she said.

Of everything happening at this year’s event, Dorton said she’s most excited about the music and hopes this year’s choices helps everyone in Jonesboro and the surrounding areas feel included.

“The biggest takeaway from this year is that the names might not be as well known, but talent-wise, I think this is most talent we’re ever going to see to date,” she said.

To apply as a competitor or vendor, or for more information, click here. There is also a Facebook group for vendors, which can be found by clicking here.