2023 DATE: May 26-29, 2023
This post documents my experience on May 24, 2014.
Deep within the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds…
…beyond the bike parking…
…and next to the windmill…
…Berea’s National Rib Cook-Off was taking place…
…and one particular kid was happy about getting to taste his first BBQ rib!
But first he had to make his way through the vendor booths…
…which consisted of the bath fitter, hot tub…
…and window variety…
…with one or two more interesting vendors scattered about on the grounds.
Festival activities were much more interesting and varied with some stage entertainment…
…prize games…
…bungee jumping…
…test driving (Chevrolet)…
…body art, face painting…
…and giant balls to climb into.
This brings us to the food.
Although there were other foods available, such as pizza…
…Campbell’s popcorn…
…and the occasional funnel cake…
…ribs were the main attraction at this festival…
…and there were plenty to be tasted and judged.
With an average price of $7 per sample of 3 bones (sometimes 4), we tried…
…Smokin’ T’s…
…and Old Carolina.
Although some of these were said to be “tender” and “fall-off-the-bone” ribs by other festival guests, only Smokin’ T’s really fit that description for us. The others required a bit of work to pull the meat off the bone, which wasn’t really our preference.
Therefore, we voted for Smokin’ T’s…
…which turned out to be Max’s first taste of BBQ ribs ever…
…and this year’s winner in the cook-off.
Congrats!
.