Overview Taco Fest is a two-day taco competition at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale: the Valley's taco makers cook and sell to the crowd while competing for Best Taco, and the head judges named for 2026 were José R. Ralat, Texas Monthly's James Beard Award-winning taco editor, and Rodrigo Bravo. The crowd votes its own People's Choice, and a third award goes to Best Experience. Arizona Foothills named it best culinary event. PHX Fest LLC produces it with Salt River Fields, and part of the VIP proceeds goes to XICO, an Arizona nonprofit for Latino and Indigenous art. On site Gates run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both days. General admission is all ages, children 12 and under get in free, and parking is free. The main stage carries the live judging, chef cooking demonstrations, mixology and bachata classes, with bands between them, and chef Beau MacMillan runs a Bar Brawl, first held in 2025. There is a kids zone with rides, bounce houses and games, and a community art wall. Inside the VIP garden the Agave Show pours guided tastings of tequila, mezcal, sotol and raicilla, around shaded lounges and cabanas with bottle service, and the 2026 plan added an Uchi Scottsdale pop-up. Talent and Influencers The chefs named for 2026 were Aarón Sánchez, the James Beard Award-winning chef and MasterChef judge, as Sunday judge; Maria Mazon of BOCA Tacos y Tequila in Tucson, a Top Chef alum; Beau MacMillan of Sanctuary Camelback Mountain; Fidencio Alatriste of Belmont Kitchen; and Blake Luecke of Uchi Scottsdale. Las Calakas, The Conveyors and The Hourglass Cats were booked to play. The taco makers listed included Just Tacos and More, the 2025 champion, Gallo Blanco, Taco Chelo, Dilla Libre and Ghost Street Asian Taqueria. Brand presence Tequila Corrido was named presenting partner for 2026, with its margaritas, tastings and flights on the menu, American Family Insurance took the name on the kids zone, and close to twenty agave brands, Herradura and el Jimador among them, were listed for the Agave Show. A partner can name the main stage and hang its own mesh banners on the two side panels and the top, take the tented VIP lounge with up to a 20-by-20 activation, back the competition as the official prize fund sponsor, named in the winners' press release, or sit beside the community art wall. The larger tiers also put a logo on the festival's flyers and posters at more than 100 Valley locations.