NOTES ON CAMP

$2M luxury RV resort currently under construction in Hill Country town

A new Hill Country campground might soon convince outdoor die-hards that roughing it is for the birds. Kampgrounds of America (KOA) is building a $2 million luxury RV resort on historic farmland near downtown Fredericksburg.

The project isn’t KOA’s first foray into Fredericksburg. The company franchised a property off US-290 for 45 years before it converted to an independently run 21-plus RV park. Still, according to Woodall’s Campground Magazine, the new resort will be KOA’s first greenfield development where everything was built from scratch.

Once open, the site will offer visitors several ways to rest their heads. Those who own RVs can rent spots with full hookups and an outdoor patio. Everyone else can stay in Conestoga-style wagons outfitted with bathrooms and contemporary amenities or deluxe cabins. One of the cabins was built to mimic the Hill Country’s historic Sunday Houses.

An aerial rendering shows the family pool, lazy river, and Social Haus café.Rendering courtesy of KOA Fredericksburg Resort

Photo courtesy of KOA Fredericksburg Resort

KOA Fredericksburg will offer RV hookups, cabins, and swanky amenities.

The Fredericksburg campgrounds are packed with outdoor amenities. Families can enjoy a resort-style pool, a lazy river, pickleball courts, walking trails, and a playground. A separate pool with a hot tub is reserved for adults.

The site will also feature the Social Haus, a full-service café with live entertainment on select dates, and the Oak Room, a private space available to rent for family gatherings or corporate retreats. A small shop, the Outpost, will offer golf car, bike, and pool tube rentals, and a wine barn will serve pours from area breweries and wineries.

Although newly filed project details with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation say the build-out won’t be finished until early October, the resort is advertising a soft opening on September 1. KOA did not immediately return a request for further details.

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Home for the Weekend

Top Texas pitmasters fire up for Hill Country BBQ and music festival

Hurtado Barbecue/Facebook

Hurtado Barbecue will be firing up the grills at the Brownwood festival.

The small Hill Country town of Brownwood is going big for its 2026 Feels Like Home Festival, a barbecue and country music event scheduled for Saturday, October 3. A first wave of 10 participating pitmasters has been revealed, including a former Houstonian who's made his mark in a small town.

Joey Victorian started his professional barbecue career in Houston, where his smoked tri-tip earned praise from Houston Chronicle barbecue columnist J.C. Reid. From there, he appeared on season 2 of Netflix's Barbecue Showdown before opening Victorian's Barbecue in Mart, a small town east of Waco.

The first wave of pitmasters at the Feels Like Home Festival are:

Bosque River Taphouse (Stephenville, TX)
Brantley Creek Barbecue (Odessa, TX)
Hill City Chop House (Tolar, TX)
Hurtado Barbecue (Fort Worth and Arlington, TX)
Olmos BBQ (Fort Worth, TX)
Pody's BBQ (Pecos, TX)
Rossler's Blue Cord Barbecue (Harker Heights, TX)
Schoepf's BBQ (Belton, TX)
The Original Roy Hutchins Barbecue (Trophy Club, TX)
Victorian's Barbecue (Mart, TX)

Brownwood is located between Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Abilene, about a five-hour drive from Dallas. Texas Monthly recently detailed some unique ways to spend the weekend there, a place that's "still obsessed with trains."

“Barbecue has been part of the Feels Like Home experience since day one, and we have always believed it deserves the same level of care and attention that we put into the music lineup,” said festival director Steve Clayton in a statement. “This is about making Feels Like Home more than just another concert or music festival. We want people to come to Brownwood and spend the day discovering incredible country music, eating barbecue from pitmasters they may have driven hours across Texas to try, and enjoying the kind of authentic hometown hospitality that makes this community so special.”

Blue Cord Barbecue Pitmasters at Feels Like Home have plenty of space to spread out.Photo by Levi Thompson

This year, the third for the festival, organizers have updated the barbecue portion of the experience to allow more time for attendees to try everything.

On the musical side, attendees can expect live performances from:

Gary Allan
Scotty McCreery
Mark Chesnutt
Jack Ingram
Caroline Hale

The period between noon and 4 pm will be open for complimentary sampling on the Grass Lawn, which is adjacent to the main stage and more accessible than the previous location. Fans will be able to watch from the barbecue area, so it won't be a tough choice between getting barbecue and enjoying the show. They can also move back and forth between the stage and the barbecue area.

Past attendees haven't just made the drive for a meal. Other activities include mechanical bull riding and axe throwing, and other small interactive elements will offer variety throughout the day.

Feels Like Home will be held at the Brownwood Event Center. Tickets (starting at $82, before a $45 unlimited barbecue add-on) are available at feelslikehomefest.com.

barbecue festivals music festival pitmasters hill country brownwood

NOTES ON CAMP

$2M luxury RV resort currently under construction in Hill Country town

Comfort food restaurant confirms big move to new River Oaks development

Family-friendly Houston restaurant opens with supervised playground

Houston documentary maker helps correct biased Texas historical marker

Home for the Weekend

Top Texas pitmasters fire up for Hill Country BBQ and music festival