2026 Hot Sauce Contest Stage (LIVE Judging)
Join us at 12:00 PM on the Bailey Farms Pepper Eating Stage for the live judging of this year’s hot sauce competition!
Watch as the sauces are tasted, scored, and put to the test to determine which ones will take home top honors at the 2026 NC Hot Sauce Contest & Festival!
Left to Right: Chef Lamar, Chef Kyle, Chef Marc, Chef Freddy
Sauce Entry Process:
- Fill out the entry form listing the category with 1 sample bottle for the sauce to be judged.
- The top 3 contestants in each category will be judged live from the Hot Sauce Stage on Williamsboro Street during the festival.
- A cash prize of ($500) will be given to each category Champion and medals will be awarded to the 2 runner-ups in each category.
- Sauces entered by mail AND not present at the day’s festival are limited to 1 entry per contest year Mail to: NC Hot Sauce Contest, 300 Williamsboro Street, Oxford NC 27565
- First place Champions will receive a jpg “winner” seal in recognition as a 2026 NC Sauce Winner to add to labeling providing that sauce winner the much-deserved bragging rights as a 2026 NC Hot Sauce Winner!
- Winners will be announced from the Hot Sauce Stage.
We will NOT accept ANY product "privately labeled" outside of North Carolina for a named NC Company or any sauces containing "pepper extract".
Hot/BBQ Sauce & Rubs Contest
Contest Judging Rules:
- All entries MUST be PRE-REGISTERED by 07/31/2026
- All entries MUST be produced in North Carolina
- All entries MUST have a professionally labeled bottle (ready for retail)
- Each entry MUST fill out an entry form with contact information and check the “category” for entry judging
- No entry will be accepted if “pepper extracts” are used in the ingredients
- ALL Sauce Contestants must pre-register each bottled sauce and mail it to NC Hot Sauce Contest, 300 Williamsboro St. Oxford NC 27565 by July 31, 2026, to qualify for "blind" judging
SAVE THE DATE!
September 11 & 12, 2026