event Sponsors
POPPA EARLE'S TAILGATE FESTIVAL 2026!
FESTIVAL EVENT OVERVIEW
Get ready, Baton Rouge — the 2nd Annual Poppa Earle’s Tailgate Festival is back and bigger than ever! This year, we’re turning it into a two-day celebration, November 20–21, 2026, built around the LSU vs. Tennessee game. Come out for great Louisiana food, live music, football, family fun, and some serious tailgate competition — all while supporting the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Admission is FREE to get in! Thomas Cain will be performing Friday night for the kickoff party with a huge fireworks show on the levee and Saturday will be all day DJ with full bar, kids games, cookoff competitions, sports memorabilia auction along with the LSU vs Tennessee game being broadcasted on a 25ft TV Screen!
Grab a $25 Food Pass at the gate for all-you-can-taste access to dishes prepared by our competing cookoff teams. A portion of sales from the event will be donated to the Greator Baton Rouge Foodbank who works in helping families across 11 parishes.
The Cookoff Showdown
More than $5,000 in trophies and prizes will be awarded to cook-off contestants! Think your team has what it takes? Businesses, friends, families, and backyard tailgate crews are all welcome to compete.
Each team prepares two dishes on day of event. You can only win the Grand Prize by competing in both categories:
- Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Cookoff — Judged by a panel of celebrity judges morning of event. Cooked onsite.
- Best Tailgate Dish — Served to the crowd when gates open at 11am, crowds vote on their favorites.
Trophies and prizes will be awarded in both categories, and the team with the highest combined score will take home the ultimate title: Best Tailgate of the South! $5,000 in total prizes awarded.
Spots are limited, so get your team together and sign up early. Full cookoff rules can be found at the bottom of the page.
The Ultimate Tailgate Party in Baton Rouge
2026 Festival Highlights
FRIDAY NIGHT KICKOFF PARTY WITH THOMAS CAIN!
Kick off the weekend Friday night with live music from Thomas Cain, a huge fireworks show on the levee, and a true Louisiana cochon de lait! We’ll be serving up BBQ plates fresh off the pit, with a full bar open all night.
Come hungry, grab a drink, enjoy the music, and help us kick off the Poppa Earle’s Tailgate Festival the right way! Friday November 20, 2026
THE ULTIMATE TAILGATE COOKOFF EVENT!
Think you’ve got what it takes to be crowned Best Tailgate in the South? Our two-part cookoff starts with Chicken & Sausage Gumbo in the morning blind judged by our celebrity judges panel, followed by your Best Tailgate Dish, served to the public for tasting and voting.
Scores from both competitions will be combined to crown the overall champion!
🏆 $5,000 in prizes up for grabs
🏆 Top 3 finishers in each category win prizes
🏆 One team takes home the title of Best Tailgate in the South!
Saturday November 21, 2026
AUTOGRAPHED SPORTS MEMORABILIA AUCTIONS
Bid on an incredible lineup of autographed sports memorabilia, including helmets, jerseys, framed photos and more! Our Silent Auction runs throughout the day Saturday November 21st, followed by the Live Auction that evening featuring some of our biggest items.
From LSU legends to NFL greats, to baseball stars, there’ll be something for every sports fan and collector. All autographs are authenticated, so you can bid with confidence!
Best of all, 50% of all auction proceeds will benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, so every winning bid helps support a great cause!
Pay cook-off entry fee
Submit Team Entry Fee now to reserve your spot for the upcoming cookoff event. Limited spots available. $150 Entry fee per team. ***PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME IN THE NOTE when paying so we can verify which team payment is for.
Cancelation Policy: Cancel before 9/15/2026 to receive full refund. Cancel after 9/15/2026 for half refund. Cancelation within 72 hours of event receives no refund.
We are cooking for a cause!
The Greater Baton Rouge Foodbank
The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that solicits, procures, inventories, and warehouses donated food and other products. This food is then distributed to a variety of community agencies such as pantries, meal sites, homes, shelters, and soup kitchens that serve the people in need.
Our mission is to feed the hungry in Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes by providing food and educational outreach through faith-based and other community partners. With community support, we have served the hungry in our 11-parish service area for 40 years. The Greater Baton Rouge Foodbank provides services to up to 50,000 people a month. Click the link where you can donate directly to the Greater Baton Rouge Foodbank!
DONATE NOW TO HELP FIGHT HUNGER!
Every dollar donated can provide up to 3 meals! 100 percent of every dollar donated goes to directly to The Greator Baton Rouge Foodbank. Let's help them in their mission to ending hunger!
event Sponsors
LIVE AND SILENT AUCTIONS HELD DAY OF EVENT
We are Auctioning off some amazing sports memorabilia Saturday November 21st!
50 percent of all sales from the live and silent auctions will go to the Geater Baton Rouge Food Bank in their mission to fight hunger!
We’ll have incredible sports memorabilia up for auction throughout the day, and you’ll need to be there in person to place your bids! This is your chance to add some amazing pieces to your collection, including autographed items from legends and fan favorites like Joe Burrow, Paul Skenes, Shaquille O’Neal, Ben McDonald, Jayden Daniels, Tommy Casanova, Whit Weeks, Alex Bregman, Justin Vincent, Haleigh Bryant, Tommy White, Charles Alexander, and many more.
See below for some of the pieces that will be up for auction!
