Piping Hot, New England Hot Sauce Festival Coming to Hampton, NH in July

Get the milk ready...and the tissues because there will likely be tears at New England's Hot Sauce Festival.

Hot sauce people are WILD. Don't get me wrong, I love some buffalo wings or Frank's Red Hot on eggs. But true hot sauce people, the ones who go for the highest level of heat, trying the spiciest flavor without sweating...those people are crazy.

But there will be a lot of them gathering to compete in a hot pepper and a hot wing eating contest in July.

New England Hot Sauce Festival, Hampton, New Hampshire

Smuttynose Brewery, in Hampton, New Hampshire, is hosting its fourth annual Hot Sauce Festival. The festivities are taking place on July 26, 2025, and there is a lot going on for everyone. So even if you are not a hot sauce consumer, there is certainly something for you.

For the kids, there will be a magic show, bouncy houses, and face painting. For the adults, there will be tons of beer...really good, Smuttynose beer. But also food trucks, a DJ playing 80s music, and lots of hot sauce sampling.

For the die-hard hot sauce lovers, according to the festival website, there will be 35 Northeast hot sauce companies showing off their products. There are both a hot pepper eating contest and a hot wing eating contest.

You have to "apply" to enter the contest because the heat is no joke. According to the website, "Hybrid super hots come straight from the creator of the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X, Ed Currie. Submit your pepper-eating resume to apply to enter this contest."

To buy tickets or enter the eating contests, click here.