Downtown Paducah is excited for the return of BBQ on the River 2026! 

It’s BBQ time in West Kentucky, and we’re ready to smell the smoke and taste all the flavors of some of the best BBQ on this side of the country! The leadership of the festival has changed, but we’re still accomplishing the same mission of supporting local charities and feeding hungry people! Tyler Parker is leading BBQ on the River 2026 alongside Paducah Main Street. Tyler is a tenured BBQ on the River barbecue vendor dedicated to uplifting the talented barbecue chefs in our region while raising money for local and regional charities.

As a team, we are committed to the success of the 32nd BBQ on the River! We look forward to working with all of you, whether you have been here since the start or are new to the event. The dates for this year’s festival are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, September 24-26, 2026.

Our vendor applications are completely online. We ask that you read through the entire packet before applying — many of our frequently asked questions will be answered and any important festival updates for 2026 will be outlined in this document.

Once your application has been submitted, our team will review and contact you within two weeks of submission. Please make sure to review your application to ensure you have included the correct email and phone number, and consistently check both your inbox & spam folders for festival related correspondence from our bbq.paducahmainstreet@gmail.com email.