{"id":78075,"date":"2016-07-15T08:08:02","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T13:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=78075"},"modified":"2016-07-15T22:23:39","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T03:23:39","slug":"20164-vw-rib-fest-vendors-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/07\/15\/20164-vw-rib-fest-vendors-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 VW Rib Fest vendors announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

VW independent\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s a rib fest without great food? The 10th annual Van Wert Rib Fest is happy to introduce the vendors who are participating in this year\u2019s event. Some of these vendors are returning from previous years and some are new to the Van Wert area.<\/p>\n

According to Larry Lee, director of the Van Wert Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which puts on the Rib Fest, it\u2019s a testament to the success and popularity of the local festival that vendors want to come back each year and also help spread the word to others they compete against in other events.<\/p>\n

\"2013<\/a>
Rib vendors are one of the main reasons people come out in droves to the Van Wert Rib Fest each year.<\/strong> (VW independent file photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great not to have to struggle to find food vendors,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, vendors have been calling us wanting to get in. This year the Rib Fest will have seven rib vendors and four non-rib food vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Hours BBQ from Orville is back for its second year. Al Schroer and Josh Crall are two friends who had been experimenting with cooking “after hours”\u00a0from their day jobs (hence the name) and took on the challenge of\u00a0barbecuing after much encouragement from family and friends.<\/p>\n

They first put their barbecuing skills to the test at Orrville’s 2013 rib fest. After winning both Judge’s and People’s Choice awards, their journey was only beginning. The pair decided that in 2014 they wanted to try their hands at more rib festivals, and some outside their local area. This year, they are participating in 11 rib events, including ones in New York, Illinois, and Michigan, as well as throughout Ohio.<\/p>\n

In 2015, they were awarded seven trophies for their ribs and sauce, including the second-place People\u2019s Choice Award at the 2015 Van Wert Rib Fest.<\/p>\n

A new rib vendor this year is Bad Azz BBQ from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bad Azz is a family run business that specializes in freshly smoked ribs, pulled pork, chicken and hot sausage. The restaurant has been voted Pittsburgh\u2019s No. 1 barbeque, while, earlier this year, it was awarded the first place trophy for best sauce at the Berea Rib Cook Off in Cleveland and the first place trophy for ribs at the Heinz Field Rib Cook Off in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

A perennial favorite, Gibson\u2019s Barnyard BBQ from Convoy, will be joining Rib Fest again this year. Tom\u00a0and Chris Gibson started their business in 2010 and have been a part of every Rib Fest since then. Last year, their ribs were awarded the first place People\u2019s Choice Award and third place Judges award at Rib Fest.<\/p>\n

In addition to their Rib Fest participation, the Gibsons do a lot of catering in the area and are well-known supporters of community projects.<\/p>\n

Returning for its third visit is Low and Slow BBQ from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owner David Hart has always grilled and entertained as a hobby, and his skills at the grill did not go unnoticed. Hart\u2019s barbecue became a “must have” at all family and friends events, while he and his family entered Fort Wayne’s Rib Festival, in hopes to have fun with his family and offer Fort Wayne a great local option. That was in 2009. Since then, DMH Low N Slow has become a Rib Fest staple, as well as a booming catering business.<\/p>\n

Pigtails BBQ from West Salem won the second place Judges Trophy for their ribs at the 2015 Van Wert Rib Fest. Joe Russell has over 30 years of experience, having started working his parents\u2019 barbecue team, but in 2008 started his own business. The company started out doing small festivals and craft shows, and while it still does those, now it has added some rib festivals.<\/p>\n

Russell\u2019s specialty is ribs, pulled pork and chicken, and he has his own blend of seasoning and award winning sauce to enhance the flavors of the meat.\u00a0So far this year, he has won first-place awards at events in Parma, Augusta, New Jersey, and Erie, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Another yearly favorite is Smoke Shack BBQ from Pickerington. Last year, the vendor won first-place Judges awards for its sauce and its ribs. LaMar Marshall and his team put on a good show, as well as cook good food.<\/p>\n

Finally, Tim Johnson from Timmy\u2019s BBQ of Garrett, Indiana, will be making his eighth appearance at Rib Fest. The vendor won the second place People\u2019s Choice Award and the second place Critics Choice Award at the Fort Wayne Ribfest in June and is debuting a new item this year — chicken feet on a stick. At the 2015 Van Wert Rib Fest, Timmy\u2019s won the second place Judges Trophy for its sauce.<\/p>\n

In addition to these rib vendors, other food vendors will include CJ\u2019s Shaved Ice, Sycamore of Van Wert, Rismiller Concessions from Arcanum (serving french fries, funnel cakes, and lemon shake-ups), and Cumberland Kettle Corn, a first-time vendor offering kettle corn in a variety of flavors, including caramel, strawberry, blue raspberry, cinnamon, and regular kettle corn.<\/p>\n

Mark those calendars; the Van Wert Rib Fest will be held at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds on Friday, August 5, with gates opening at 5 p.m., and on Saturday, August 6, when gates will open at 11 in the morning. Admission is free before 5 p.m. and $5 per person after 5 p.m. each day. Children ages 12 and under are free both days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent\/submitted information What\u2019s a rib fest without great food? The 10th annual Van Wert Rib Fest is happy to introduce the vendors who are participating in this year\u2019s event. Some of these vendors are returning from previous years and some are new to the Van Wert area. According to Larry Lee, director of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 18:47:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}