Coming September 2027

 Follow the Smoke… to September 2027!

After a lot of conversations, planning, and maybe a little too much BBQ tasting, we’ve made the decision to postpone the inaugural Leadville Downtown BBQ Trail until September 2027.

Why? Pretty simple: great BBQ takes time.

With the 2026 competition season already well underway, we weren’t able to secure enough pitmasters and cooks to create the kind of event we promised Leadville. And rather than serve up a “half-a-side” version of the BBQ Trail just to say we did it, we decided to do this the right way.

Leadville deserves the full plate.

The good news? We’ve built some incredible momentum. The community response, volunteers, partners, and excitement surrounding the BBQ Trail have shown us that this idea has legs and smoke!

A Big Thank You to Our Sponsors

We especially want to thank the businesses, organizations, and community partners who stepped up to sponsor and support the BBQ Trail before we had ever served our first plate.

Your willingness to believe in a brand-new event and in an idea designed to bring people downtown, support Leadville businesses, and give our community something fun to rally around means more than we can say.

You believed in this idea early, and we intend to make that support count when the smoke starts rolling in 2027. Thank you.

We’re now going back to our original schedule of September 2027, giving us a full year to recruit pitmasters, build a great competition, and create the downtown BBQ experience we envisioned from the beginning.

Already purchased tickets online? You will receive a full refund. Please watch your email for additional information.

And to everyone who volunteered, shared the event, offered an idea, helped behind the scenes, or simply told us, “This sounds awesome!”…thank you.

We may be putting the smokers away for 2026, but we’re not putting away the idea. We have great momentum heading into 2027, and we’re excited about what comes next.

So, keep your appetite.

Follow the Smoke… and we’ll see you in Leadville next September!