Hawgfest 2026: Bigger Than Ever

By Misty Cryer

Over the years, Hawgfest has been a favorite of locals while also attracting visitors from across the country. This family-friendly event brings the community together to have a good time. Starting April 23 and running through May 3, the event will be held at the Walter Gerrells Performing Arts and Exhibition Center, 4012 National Parks Highway.

“It’s going to be bigger than it’s ever been; it’s 11 days,” said Curtis McKinney, when giving a preview. “With two big weekends of music, the concerts are free to the public,” he said.

“We’re trying to do a little bit of everything for everybody,” said McKinney. With a lot of bands lined up, he said opening night will be a country night with Country Divas Tribute headlining. Pat Benatar Tribute is headlining the next night, with the third night being a rock night.

“I’m bringing a lot of the Cranked Up Records artists down; they are all national bands,” said McKinney. Blacklysted, Davy Williamson, Cordell Winter, Nine Left Dead, and Kaos Bender are some of the artists McKinney mentioned, along with a Christian band.

Sunday through Wednesday, the carnival will be running, he said. “We’ve partnered with the Lions Club this year. They have kind of outgrown where they used to be, so we’re going to have a big one. It’s going to run 11 days straight,” he said, adding that the Lions Club does a lot of good stuff for the community.

Starting the next Thursday, on April 30, McKinney said, “We’re calling it ‘Herencia,’ which is ‘heritage’ in Spanish.” For three days, he said, bands will be playing Norteño- and Tejano-type music.

“I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, and we’ve gotten a good response. The community is really excited about that, so we felt like it was a good time to add it to Hawgfest,” he said.

“We have also teamed up with the Special Olympics. They are going to be doing a poker run for Special Olympics, which I think is awesome,” said McKinney. “We always try to do that, and then of course we try to do stuff with United Way too,” he said.

“I have the tattoo guys coming in; they’re going to be tattooing,” said McKinney, adding that there will be vendors and food trucks. “We’re working on some other stuff, too, that we are going to unveil before long,” he said.

“The Hawgfest, for me, is really about giving back to Carlsbad,” said McKinney. He said that everybody asks him how they do the event with free entry and free concerts, “We spend a lot, but we have sponsors come in, too.”

McKinney said, “Carlsbad Ford has always been really just awesome.” This year, there are sponsors like Red Bull, Coors, Modelo, Twisted Tea, Truly, Core Water, BudBoard, and HTeaO that he said help so much.

“One of the places that I thought was pretty cool is C&C Transfers with the porta-potties,” said McKinney. “They are relatively new here, but they are really top shelf, so I’m excited about that,” he said, adding, they call themselves the “poop crew.”

With Décor closing, National Furniture Liquidators is taking over the Décor building and sponsoring Hawgfest this year. “It’s a huge store, and they are selling furniture with really good deals. It is going to be crazy cool for Carlsbad,” said McKinney.

Expressing gratitude to the sponsors who help cover the costs of putting on the event, McKinney said, “I want to continue to do Hawgfest as long as we can.”

He said he is excited to see the number of people that the extended 11-day event draws to the community and the economic impact it has.