EggFest Frequently Asked Questions

Hi Fellow EggHeads:

I’m writing with a difficult update: we’ve decided to cancel the 9th Annual North Texas EggFest that was scheduled for March. As much as we hate to do this, we feel it’s better to put the brakes on now than to move forward with an event that isn’t set up to succeed.

If you have ideas on what it would take to bring EggFest back in the future, I genuinely want to hear them - take our brief survey by clicking here. One randomly selected participant will receive a FREE bottle of the Big Green Egg × Fiddler Bourbon, a limited-release bourbon aged with oak staves that are actually smoked on a Big Green Egg—made to pair especially well with grilled and smoked foods.

HOW WE GOT HERE

For many of you, this may come as a surprise, so I want to take a moment to explain the decision.

We had already rescheduled once—from our original October date to March—specifically to give ourselves more time. The goal was to recruit additional cook teams and work through several outstanding planning and support items with our partners. Unfortunately, that momentum never materialized.

At its core, EggFest only works if people are willing to cook. This year, just four cook teams committed. A number of longtime teams chose to sit this year out and attend as guests instead—which I completely understand. As someone who is usually working the event from start to finish, I know how much effort it takes, and everyone deserves the chance to simply enjoy it sometimes. This year, we even increased cook team incentives and payouts to help cover rising food costs, but it still wasn’t enough to build the participation needed. Without enough cooks, there isn’t a strong foundation for the event.

At the same time, the logistics and economics became increasingly challenging. Like most EggFest hosts, we don’t receive direct funding or support from Big Green Egg, so the event depends heavily on local partner support and careful cost planning while still finding a way to support our charitable cause. For many years, North Texas EggFest tickets have been just $10, and even with a planned increase to $15 this year, that’s still a fraction of what many other EggFests charge—often two to ten times more. We’ve always tried to keep the event accessible and community-focused, even when that meant tighter margins and more work behind the scenes.

This year, several longtime sponsors stepped back due to budget changes or closing their doors, and one redirected their support directly to Chef to the Shelters, which I fully respect but which reduced support for the event itself. In addition, we didn’t receive demo Egg pricing from our distributor in time to presell and responsibly plan demo sales. Taken together, those factors created too much uncertainty to move forward confidently.

When you add all of this to the time, cost, and effort required to do the event the right way—for our guests, our cooks, our partners, and the cause—it became clear that pushing forward would likely result in a disappointing experience. Rather than force it, we chose to pause.

We’re still very much a Big Green Egg dealer, and I’m incredibly grateful for the community EggFest has created over the years. We’ve met some great people and tasted a lot of delicious food roasted, smoked, grilled, and baked on the Big Green Egg.

— Brad

STAY CONNECTED:

North Texas EggFest – Updates and future announcements

North Texas EggHeads – A place to talk eggs, cooks, and everything in between

Fox 4’s 2023 EggFest Coverage – Great memories and a reminder of what made this event special