get lucky

2 Houston chefs head west for Aaron Franklin's Austin food festival

Industry stars are bringing together their best food and music friends for the sixth annual Hot Luck.

Photo by Alison Narro

Put down the tongs this Memorial Day. Although a backyard barbecue sounds great, Austin's most famous pitmaster has it covered.

Franklin Barbecue founder Aaron Franklin and his collaborator, Mohawk's James Moody and Feast Portland's Mike Thelin, are bringing back their Hot Luck music and food festival on Memorial Day weekend (May 23-26), doubtless with table after table of Texas's best barbecue and other treats. In addition to plenty of Austin's contributions, Franklin has recruited chefs from Houston to join the party.

Festival-goers love Hot Luck for its laid-back vibes despite its massive size, and its musical overlap. This year there's even more programming, all aimed at creating a sort of foodie nature retreat with the best of the best in all categories. Friday and Sunday bring a new "supper club" and brunch, respectively, detailed below.

Also adding to the festival's popularity is the à la carte ticket approach, which allows people to pare down the packed schedule to just the events they really care about. And it all benefits a good cause: the Southern Smoke Foundation, which supports workers in the food and beverage industry.

“Hot Luck is one of the events I look forward to every year," said chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Austin's Canje in a press release. "It’s the most diverse gathering in food representation and entertainment in Austin. It has solidified itself as one of the best food experiences guests can have at such a large social event."

Here's how this year's schedule is cooking up:

Thursday, May 23

Giddy Up: Mohawk
The Taco Mafia Crew — a group of Austin taqueros including Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi of Nixta Taqueria and Luis “Beto” Robledo of Cuantos Tacos — are hosting an exclusive kickoff party for festival-goers who purchase the largest package. PBS viewers might recognize this "crew" from the Taco Mafia show; This will be a great way to taste the onscreen collaboration. Sarah Lim of OMG Squee is handling dessert.

Friday, May 24

Hot Luck Supper Club: Fair Market
It sure seems like the "supper club" concept of the '30s and '40s is making a comeback in the 2020s. Hot Luck is throwing its hat in the ring aiming for "all of the midcentury coziness and, of course, the comfort food we crave." The warehouse dinner party will feature bites by:

Marc-Olivier Frappier (Mon Lapin)
Mashama Bailey (The Grey)
Nick and Leslie Goellner (The Antler Room)
Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp (My Loup)
Kyle Knall (Birch)
Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde)
Andy Quinn (The Noortwyck)
Ed Szymanski and Patricia Howard (Dame)
Arlin Smith and Andrew Taylor (Eventide Oyster Co.)
Misti Norris (Petra and the Beast)
Rebecca Masson (Fluff Bake Bar)
Ariana Quant (Uchi)
Shane Stark (Mongers)
Franklin Barbecue

Saturday, May 25

Turkey and the Wolf Pop-Up: Uptown Sports Club
Turkey and the Wolf is a famous New Orleans sandwich shop, and Uptown Sports Club is Aaron Franklin's homey neighborhood restaurant that also draws inspiration from the Louisiana city. It's a match made in heaven. Turkey and the Wolf chef Mason Hereford is bringing some of his own creations for people to try. It'll be run as a pop-up rather than a festival event, meaning anyone can stop by and purchase a sandwich until they run out.

Al Fuego: Wild Onion Ranch
This could be thought of as the "main event," when chefs set up tasting booths on a ranch and showcase their live fire cooking skills where visitors can see and smell the action. "If you ever wonder what chefs cook for their friends in their backyard, this is the shindig for you," says the release. Participating chefs include:

Chuy Villarreal (Cara de Vaca)
Chava Orozco (Mi Compa Chava)
Fermín Núñez (Este)
Doug Rankin (Bar Chelou)
'Sophina Uong (Mister Mao)
Adam Perry Lang (APL)
Valerie Chang (Maty’s)
David Murphy and Kayla Abe (Shuggie’s)
Rene Andrade (Bacanora)
Serigne Mbaye (Dakar NOLA)
Dana Cree (Pretty Cool Ice Cream)
Diane Moua (Diane’s Place)
Joanne Canady-Brown (The Gingered Peach)
Junior Borges, Kevin Fink (Emmer & Rye)
Fiore Tedesco (L’Oca d’Oro)
Colter Peck (Elementary)
Yoshi Okai (Otoko)
Michael Fojtasek (Maie Day)
Christian Grindrod (Nido)
Brian Light and Amanda Light (Ronin)
Aaron Bludorn (Bludorn)
Jakub Czyszczon (Garrison)
Kareem El-Ghayesh (KG BBQ)

Sunday, May 26

Camp Sunnyside: Wild Onion Ranch

A new campfire-side brunch is on the weekend's menu, wrapping up the festivities and perhaps offering a hangover cure. It sounds like they're really leaning into the summer camp theme, so get ready for nostalgia. Participating chefs include:

Ashley Christensen (Poole’s)
Jeremy Sewall (Row 34)
Taylor Manning (Cafe Olli)
Paola Velez (Bakers Against Racism)
Gabriel Rucker (Canard)
Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco)
Silver Iocovozzi (Neng Jr.’s)
Tavel Bristol-Joseph (Canje)
Sarah McIntosh (Épicerie)
Todd Duplechan (Lenoir)
Davis Turner (Huckleberry)
Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and Arjav Ezekiel (Birdie’s)
Evan LeRoy (LeRoy and Lewis)

Tickets are available now, either for individual events (the supper club, the tasting event, and the brunch) or for all events as a package deal.

The "Whole Enchilada" package is $595 for adults, $200 for 13- to 20-year-olds, and $100 for kids 12 and under. A Whole Enchilada Family Pass includes two adults and two kids for $1,095. These passes also get holders early entry to all events, and includes all music events.

The music lineup will be announced in April. More information about Hot Luck is available at hotluckfest.com.

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WILDFLOWER WATCH

The hunt for Texas bluebonnets could be tricky this spring, experts predict

Marble Falls bluebonnet field, bluebonnets

Photo courtesy of Visit Marble Falls

Bluebonnets could be sparser this year across Texas.

Bluebonnet bounty across Texas may be a little harder to spot this spring after a dry fall and mild winter, particularly across the Hill Country.

The 2026 wildflower bloom season is expected to vary widely across Texas, shaped by uneven rainfall, continuing drought conditions, and local microclimates that influence where seeds germinate and how wildflowers thrive, according to the experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. This forecast is similar to the 2025 season projection.

Across the Hill Country, from Austin to San Antonio — considered bluebonnet mecca each spring — the recent fall and winter weather helps explain why bluebonnets, in particular, may be sparse. Much of Central Texas saw a notably dry fall, followed by a mild winter with limited rainfall. The fall is the time when many wildflower seeds, and especially bluebonnets, germinate.

Bluebonnets rely heavily on fall moisture to sprout and winter rain to grow before blooming in spring, according to the Wildflower Center. When conditions are dry, fewer seedlings emerge, and roadside displays can appear patchier than usual.

“We may just have to look a little harder for bluebonnets on the side of the road this year in many locales,” said Andrea DeLong-Amaya, horticulture educator at the Wildflower Center, in a press release.

Caltrops in Big Bend National Park Caltrops on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park.Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service

Central Texas, in particular, has the native prairie ecosystem where hardy native flower species can thrive. Add to that thin, rocky limestone soil and the state's long-established roadside management practices, and it's no surprise that drivers see an abundance of bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and pink evening primrose emerge and thrive during the spring.

The lack of rain in early spring does not mean a paltry wildflower season. Bluebonnets dominate early spring in areas around the state, then retreat. With subsequent solid rainfall, later wildflowers such as firewheel, purple horsemint, and black-eyed Susans will take over as the wildflower season progresses into the summer, according to the Wildflower Center.

“If early spring bloomers are a little more sparse, later spring and summer flowers have more room to flourish,” DeLong-Amaya said.

Around the state
Wildflower displays can vary dramatically even within short distances. Small environmental differences, including soil moisture, shade cover, and pavement heat, influence which seeds will germinate and how flowers thrive. The Texas Department of Transportation, which has sown wildflower in highway medians since the 1930s, provides a map for the best wildflower weeks across the various regions in the state.

Across North Texas prairies, fields of Drummond phlox and prairie verbena often appear alongside bluebonnets, particularly around the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails south of Dallas.

ennis bluebonnets Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, 2026. Photo courtesy of Visit Ennis

The organizers of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival posted on Facebook on February 27, "Ennis Bluebonnet season is officially on the way! We are already monitoring the trails, and these sweet little baby bluebonnet plants are starting to pop up right on schedule. Bluebonnets plants start emerging as these green rosettes in late winter and typically bloom throughout the month of April here in Ennis."

Ennis bluebonnets typically peak around the second to third week in April. This year's Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, and the Festival will take place April 17-19.

In West Texas and the Big Bend region, desert wildflowers such as Mexican gold poppies and desert marigolds can produce dramatic blooms after winter rains.

Coastal prairies along the Gulf Coast can produce sweeping displays of yellow coreopsis and red Indian blanket wildflowers in spring.

Even in dry years, experts say Texans can still expect to find wildflowers somewhere across the state.

“I’ve never seen a year where nothing is blooming,” DeLong-Amaya said. “That just doesn’t happen.”

The Carolina jessamine is the Wildflower Center's 2026 Wildflower of the year.Photo by Stephanie Brundage via the Native Plant Information Network

The Wildflower Center also named Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) as its 2026 Wildflower of the Year. The evergreen vine produces fragrant yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and can climb along fences or trees.

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