The Fifth Annual Syndicate Smokedown & Music Festival Returns to The Stockyards

Founded in 2022, the Syndicate Smokedown & Music Festival is a one-day celebration of BBQ and live music ― all to support the livestock and agriculture industry in Texas. Held each spring in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, this is a celebration of Texas heritage. The Syndicate Smokedown & Music Festival will take place from 11:20 am to 11 pm on Saturday, April 18. Here are all the details.

“For our 5th anniversary, we wanted a lineup that felt both elevated and unmistakably Texas,” said Andy Eldridge, Smokedown Festival Director, Fort Worth resident, and longtime member of the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate.

Tickets to the 5^th annual Syndicate Smokedown can be purchased here.

Big Time Music Acts and Stellar Barbecue Collide

With multiple GRAMMY winners, chart-topping acts, and breakout Texas artists, the 5^th anniversary of the Syndicate Smokedown & Music Festival showcases the festival’s biggest musical offerings to date. The lineup includes chart-toppers Whiskey Myers, the Randy Rogers Band, and Amanda Shires, among others.

The event’s signature BBQ competition – open to both professional pitmasters and amateur backyard teams – features a $20,000 purse. That makes it “one of the richest one-day BBQ competitions in the Lone Star State.”

Take a BBQ Tour Without Ever Leaving The Stockyards

The all-star pitmasters lined up for the event include:

• Bar-A-BBQ (Montgomery, TX)
• Blackboard BBQ (Sisterdale, TX)
• Bosque River Taphouse (Stephenville, TX)
• Brantley Creek Barbecue (Odessa, TX)
• Brick Vault Brewery & BBQ (Marathon, TX)
• Dayne’s Craft Barbecue (Aledo, TX)
• Fort Worth BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• Heim BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• Hill City Chop House (Tolar, TX)
• Lane’s Oak’d BBQ (Addison, TX)
• LocalCraft BBQ (Newark, TX)
• Love’s BBQ and Oyster Bar (Fort Worth, TX)
• Mimsy’s Craft Barbecue (Crockett, TX)
• Olmos BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• Panther City BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• Patriotic Pig Smokehouse (North Richland Hills, TX)
• River Ranch Stockyards (Fort Worth, TX)
• Schoepf’s BBQ (Belton, TX)
• Smoke & Bone BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• Terry Black’s BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
• The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ (Trophy Club, TX)
• Tia’s Tex-Mex BBQ (Valley View, TX)

Andy Eldridge says, “From Whiskey Myers and Randy Rogers Band to Amanda Shires and our all-Texas lineup during BBQ Time, this is the biggest music lineup year we’ve ever produced – one that should make the perfect soundtrack for a memorable day in the Stockyards.”

More About The Mission of the Syndicate Smokedown

The Smokedown Festival is produced by the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate. The festival brings together fans, pitmasters, and musicians while raising funds to support 4-H and FFA youth across Texas, according to a release.

All proceeds benefit the Syndicate’s longstanding mission to support Texas students involved in agriculture. The Syndicate provides essential scholarship dollars, project resources, and financial awards that help local youth purchase livestock, pursue agricultural studies.

“For more than 30 years, the Syndicate has provided meaningful financial support to 4-H and FFA students,” they say. Along with the dollars raised at its annual Smokedown, the Syndicate runs the Fort Worth Stock Show’s annual Junior Sale of Champions. At this major event, Syndicate members, alongside the general public, generously purchase the animals raised by young exhibitors, helping them achieve their dreams.

More information is available at SyndicateSmokedown.com.