The 35th Annual Erie’s Wild Rib Cook Off & Music Festival wrapped up another successful year, bringing four days of barbecue, live entertainment, and community spirit to downtown Erie’s Perry Square.
Festival organizers say attendees enjoyed award-winning barbecue from nationally touring cooking teams from across the country, alongside Erie’s own Outlaw Barbecue Revolution. Local bands kept crowds entertained throughout the event, while visitors sampled a wide variety of festival foods and offerings from local and regional food trucks.
Performance & Event Management, LLC, which produces the festival, thanked sponsors, volunteers, and attendees for helping make the milestone 35th anniversary event a success.
The festival also featured a blind judging process designed to ensure fairness. Teams selected numbered cards that were used to identify competition entries without revealing the pitmaster’s identity until after winners were announced.
Pigfoot BBQ earned top honors, taking first place for both Best Ribs and Best Sauce, as well as the Junior Judges Award hosted by the Royals Cheerleaders.
Porky Chicks BBQ received second place for Best Ribs, while Carolina Rib King earned second place for Best Sauce.
The People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Curaleaf and voted on by festival attendees, went to After Hours BBQ.
Organizers have already announced plans to return June 2 through June 5, 2027, for the next edition of Erie’s Wild Rib Cook Off & Music Festival.