Rivers of Fire Hot Sauce Festival
Pittsburgh’s first-ever hot sauce festival is back — bigger, hotter, and now spread across two days at the legendary Velum Fermentation in the South Side.
In 2025, Hammajack Heat Co. founder Lisa Ray brought Pittsburgh its very first hot sauce festival — and the ‘Burgh hasn’t stopped talking about it since. For 2026, we’re leveling up with 22 hot sauce vendors, more food, more entertainment, a brand-new free Friday preview night, and a Saturday main event packed with contests, fire shows, charity challenges, and surprises around every corner. Whether you put reaper sauce on your morning eggs or think ketchup is “a little spicy,” there’s a bottle here with your name on it.
