BBQ, bands and bedlam: Meatstock marks a decade

Thursday, 9 October 2025

Meatstock, the largest barbecue event in Australasia is returning to Mystery Creek to celebrate 25 years of running. (file)

Forget the air fryers and instant meals, the man behind New Zealand’s biggest barbecue event reckons the art of low and slow is the perfect antidote to soul-less efficiency.

Meatstock will return to Mystery Creek in February 2026 for its tenth outing, showcasing a shift back to open-fire barbecuing and holistic methods of cooking, with some good music thrown in.

“At some point we got lost a little bit into convenience, and we got lost into everything being done quickly and efficiently,” Co-founder Jay Beaumont said.

Traditional low-and-slow barbecue is about feeding a fire for a constant temperature and leisurely smoke, a time consuming process that can book out a 12 hour day.

But that’s part of the attraction.

Competitions and mini events will fill out every corner of the festival, from Butcher Wars to Fire Kitchen, arm wrestling competitions and even tattoo pop ups. (file)

“It’s a lot to do with Argentinian roots and Brazilian roots of how they used to cook back in the day, that sort of heritage of cooking with open-fire,” Beaumont said.

Meatstock has exploded in popularity since its early days. A decade ago in Auckland the event was drawing 8,000 attendees, now at Mystery Creek since 2024, they’re hosting the better part of 15,000 ticket-holders.

Last year, Meatstock hosted just under 11,500 people on the Saturday and 6,000 on the Friday, organisers expect to see more campers in February.

Around 22 food vendors will attend to serve their hottest sellers and Beaumont says all stalls were carefully picked to ensure they’re the best of the best.

“We’re super particular about the quality of food vendors,” he said.

More than 100 artists are set to take the stage, including the Full Metal Orchestra, Australian rockers Jet and Kiwis, Drax Project, I Am Giant and Tadpole.

Traditional barbecue aims to use more of the animal. (file)

For Jared Macdonald, one of New Zealand’s leading barbecue experts and inventor of the Octopit cooker, the magic of barbecue lies in the patience.

“Managing fire is a big part of it, automated grills are great but it doesn’t replace the skill and thought behind a real fire,” Macdonald said.

“Barbecue is really only limited by your imagination,” he said.

Macdonald says he’s noticed the barbecue world is returning to traditional methods, often with an Asian-styled twist.

“Bringing back that open-fire cooking and that kind of more traditional method of creating food,” he said.

Beaumont agrees.

“We’re seeing a move back to more natural fats… tallow, lard, avocado oil, depending on what you eat,” Macdonald said.

“It’s a more holistic approach to the animal… wasting as little as we can, which is good for the pocket, the environment and our bodies,” he said.

Beaumont is buoyant about the festival’s future under Waikato skies.

“We’d like to keep growing, you know, Mystery Creek is such a good venue that we can grow it… eventually we can see there being 30,000 people there, that’s were we’d love to be,” Beaumont said.