Ribtoberfest – Festevents

This was really a fall beer festival in disguise. Maybe ⁶⁰⁄₄₀ beer/​barbecue.
I went to the barbecue festival in TPP last year (I think it was named something else), and this year was a vast improvement. I had a blast. There were a lot more barbecue vendors this year, and they incorporated the beer tasting, which I loved. I think because the name of the festival didn’t mention beer, many people didn’t know the sampling would be going on. This was great for beer drinkers like myself, because lines at the beer tents were very manageable. Fall beers are my fave, and I got enough samples of pumpkin beers to hold me over until next year. I tried several beers that I had never had before, which is saying something because I try to hit every beer festival that I can.
The barbecue was also pretty good, but they need a better system if they’re going to call it a rib festival. The ribs come out in batches, so only about 2 – 3 of the vendors would have ribs for sale at one time before they sold out. This created long lines. You really couldn’t try more than two or so rib vendors if you wanted to spend any time sampling beer. We took the time to stand in lines at two of them before eating and hurrying back to the beer area.
Beer and barbecue, what more could you ask for? All in all, it was a great time!

Can someone explain the purpose of this «fest»? To me, it’s really a row of overpriced BBQ and beer sample lines with no atmosphere. So they have some music playing and a few vendors selling sauces and t-​shirts. If you really want a good festival to showcase BBQ then I think the vendors should be offering small samples (for a fee, with a wristband or something) so people can compare the different varieties available. My husband and I got some sandwiches from Malbons and when we sat down noticed a gentlemen with a delicious looking rack of ribs. «Umm excuse me sir, where did you get THOSE?» Needless to say, $ 100 later, we had tried different things from different vendors, but it really wasn’t that fun. Plus, you call it Ribtoberfrst and I don’t really know how many vendors were selling ribs, but I know not all of them were. I just feel like this event could be better and more fun.

Town Point Park in Norfolk is home to some of the best festivals around. Bayou Boogaloo is a personal favorite, Embrace the Culture is another. When the sun is shining and it is at least somewhat warm, you can easily point your compass in this direction and find something worthwhile.
But whoever came up with Ribtoberfest… this person needs a medal. Crossed pig bones WITH BBQ Sauce device and cole slaw clusters.
This year the combination was slowly cooked meat and slowly sizzling blues. Two of my favorite things in the universe, and the Scheduling Gawds smiled on me and kept me close enough to 757 to actually physically attend. When faced with Destiny, why fight it?
If you like ribs (and who doesn’t), this is Nirvana. The choices are off the charts, all varieties, all flavors. Vendors set up their makeshift kitchens and envelop the surroundings with the succulent odor of Pigs giving the Ultimate Sacrifice. For those about to roast, we salute you!
For something different, I chose the Korean BBQ rib platter.
(Insert protracted silence here as if remembering fallen comrades with a private moment of honor.)
My words cannot do justice to the taste, even served with plastic utensils and consumed standing up at a Long Board previously used to demonstrate waterboarding techniques. The atmosphere was strangely reminiscent of when my (now deceased) Uncle Larry roared my sister and me through the sketchy parts of Los Angeles in 1975 in search of the perfect Lamb Sandwich served in a deli with no tables and bars on the windows. Imagine Ward Cleaver herding Wally and The Beav to their front row seats at Showtime at the Apollo and you will have an accurate mental picture of that day.
Not to suggest that we here in Norfolk are of the sketchy variety, far from it. You see, all of those gathered were brethren. The Great Calendar had ticked past Labour Day so all of the tourist packed up their plastic beach chairs and tubs of stale Coppertone and headed back to New Jersey in contrary migratory fashion.
Nope, this festival is all ours. And we earned it.
So the food. Yep, it was tasty and plentiful. A few years ago, Norfolk proudly claimed the title of Fattest City in the US. Ribtoberfest will do little to put that memory into the rearview mirror. With any luck at all, we will regain our rightful title, maybe get Elizabeth River Crossing Toll Nazi Corp to include it on the inflated bills they are sending out to those without an EZPass. Kind of an ersatz sponsorship/​promotional type letterhead across the top. Indeed, we could probably convince them to jack up the price of leaving Norfolk and heading to Portsmouth (our much skinnier neighbor).
(Editor’s note: Umm… weren’t we talking about a festival here someplace?)
The second wheel of this delightful scooter of a Saturday was the music. Blues cuts me to the core, I would crawl barefoot through a Chicago snowstorm to hear a guitarist torture a vintage Stratocaster, armed only with a pentatonic scale. This year had a lineup of local favorites that swaggered and electrified. The JD Slivia Band is one of my absolute favorites and they certainly did NOT disappoint. The coolest part, though, is that JD is one of the nicest, most positive people that you will ever meet. Go and hear them sometime, it will be well worth your time.
As if that wasn’t enough, the guy who figured this out had the foresight to also toss in a very liberal dose of local microbreweries hocking their swill. Wait, you mean I can eat ribs, hear scorched-​earth blues AND imbibe Young Veterans Pineapple Grenade? Truly, in Heaven there is no Beer… because we drank it all at Ribtoberfest.
So this one goes on the calendar along with Bayou Boogaloo.

This was my second year at the rib fest and once again, I was not disappointed! I love the variety of vendors for not only the food, but the beer as well. They have a beer tasting (10 tickets plus a souvenir glass for $ 25) which is a great deal! They not only have local breweries but beer from around the country. The lines weren’t too terribly long. I think the longest I had to wait was 5 minutes so they could change a keg. The food was amazing and not too pricey! They had a sauce tent which was cool because you could create your own BBQ sauce for your food. My only suggestion for future rib fests is to have a rib tasting just like the beer tasting. That way you can try ribs from each vendor. I went to two vendors (one for my lunch, and one for my husband’s). There were about ten other vendors that missed out on our business.

Ribs/​Food section: I enjoyed it so much. LawLess ribs was the best stand there and I kept recommending it to everyone there who would listen.
Alachol section: I would have liked it if they would have had options to buy the tickets individually or set a limit to how many one person could buy. Overall they had a great selection of alcohol, great ribs, and wonderful entertainment there.
Overall experience: It was most definitely a family friendly place and I enjoyed the conversations I had with other people I met there. We will be going back next year!

BBQ as far as the eye can see! Nothing wrong with that.
This year I ate my way around the tents and was full by the third tent. However I powered through to funnel cakes. I just couldn’t say no to funnel cakes.
The band was great and once they finished they moved to O’Sullivans.
Great Bridge BBQ won the rob contest this year. I wish they had a sauce but the ribs were tender.
I love the festivals at Town Point. Always something to do.

These is definitely a perfect example of an awesome weekend!!!
A pint of cold ice beer, smoky pork ribs and band on the side — what a brilliant combo to spend a relaxing evening.
Excellent choices of food and beverages.
My only critics, would have been nice if they had options in terms of buying alcohol.
Overall, I had a wonderful time and enjoyable experience.

I hated that they lock you in to $ 20 for 10 samples. The samples were a hefty size and that was quite a lot to try to drink for the amount of time. I would have been happy to pay $ 10 for 5 samples and get more if I have the need. It was good to see the Point beer which I enjoyed, but more local brews would have been nice, too.
The barbecue selections were OK but leaned heavy toward Carolina style barbecue, which I guess makes sense based on our location. I heard they were running out of food at some places but I ate early so was not really affected by it.
We were told no dogs were allowed but we saw people with their dogs there, so I wish they would enforce the no dogs rule or allow it for everyone. I would have liked to have brought my dog to hang out with us but can understand if there are health rules or something like that. They should just enforce the rules either way.
I like the concept. I would give it another go next year. It was a good time.

Cool however they were running out of food, i. e rubs really fast.

Great concept, they just need a little fine tuning and more vendors. $ 20 for 10 (decent) samples… $ 5 more and you get a souvenir cup. Only a handful of local breweries, though. Would have been much better if more local flavor was incorporated. Ribs were great, but again, only 6 or 7 vendors. Will happily go again next year if there’s more selection.