Even with the nightmarish detours caused by road reconstruction on Riverfront, thousands of locals traveled from near and far to the Vetter Stone Amphitheater in Mankato from August 1-4 for the 26th annual Ribfest. Last year’s event was a historic landmark of 25 years that featured hip-hop star Flo Rida as its leading act on its opening night. It was absolute bedlam for everyone involved from the security, to the vendors pouring beer as fast as kegs could, to the rib makers scooping the baked beans and mac n cheese onto the plates, and the security working diligently to keep the event safe. This year’s iteration still produced a well-sized turnout despite limited parking due to construction and some less than favorable muggy/humid weather; however, where there is beer, barbecue, and beats to dance to, many will ignore all the negative to indulge in the positive. It took some persuasion and the flashing of my official press pass to get through the front gate as an outside media source at RibFest 2023, but this year seemed to be a breeze as security cared more about how many lenses my camera had rather than wonder why a newspaper from Janesville would attend a Mankato event–because of the ribs, Monica. Duh. Even though the headliner Rodney Atkins wouldn’t perform for another hour or so, the band by Jerrod Niemann seemed to keep a full crowd entertained as they played a variety of classic rock and country. My first goal of RibFest 2024 was to fill my stomach with its namesake. Three familiar spots slinging cue were Porky Chicks Barbeque, Big Boned BBQ; and Lightning BBQ; the three were all delicious as they all excelled in cooking ribs their way and all received enormous praise from patrons.
I didn’t get a chance or want to spend more of my finite resource of money for all of the stands, but I did focus my attention on two new additions to Ribfest in Carolina BBQ and its fair food stand counterpart. My standard combo platter had a little bit of everything with four saucy ribs, baked beans, mac n cheese because I prefer it over coleslaw, and a handful of hush puppies. The ribs were deliciously smoky, rich, and saucy as they tore off the bone with minimal effort while the beans and mac n cheese made for worthy sides. And the hush puppies? Oh, well, if I could replace a popcorn bucket with those hush puppies, I would in a heartbeat. Truth be told, after eating all of those saucy ribs, my fingers and lips were covered in the slightly spicy sauce and with no shame in my heart, I performed the quintessential and extremely necessary act of licking my fingers clean and wiping my mouth with five napkins. I’ll give you a few seconds to turn your head and dry heave away from the Journal, please.
If that wasn’t enough, I also witnessed one of the dishes from Carolina’s fair food stand that stood out to many spectators and had one hungry person who was waiting in line to say, “Woah. Whatever that is…I want that.” The sloppy creation was known as HillBilly Fries and contained a pile of fries with pulled pork, bbq sauce, nacho cheese, sour cream, and a heaping handful of jalapenos to add some kick to a dish that would already have your stomach responding violently. It was a magnificent pile of potatoes that the patron who purchased it offered a photo op of her having the first bite.
Porky Chicks returned as last year’s champion at RibFest and it’s easy to see why–they know how to smoke some hog. After purchasing their Porky Chik Special which consisted of a smoked chicken quarter, three ribs, two scoops of baked beans because I don’t like coleslaw, and a wedge of cornbread, I had to wait until I got home to dive into the meal, but the first few bites of their ribs brought back memories of working at a former BBQ joint in high school–ToKen BBQ. Nostalgia has a way of really punching you in the feels. The smoked chicken quarter was also a fantastic dish by itself, but I ended up chopping the meat up and adding it to a salad I had made–shoutout for making salads better by adding meat. Pinnacle of health. What really was incredible was the unintentional combination of the cornbread being broken apart while the to-go box was in transit–it blended into the pool of beans and created a sort of chili-like meal that complemented the smokiness of the beans and the sweetness of the corn bread. Woah, check out Mr Chef. I watched all three seasons of the Bear so…heard. Porky Chicks ended up repeating as champion for RibFest 2024 with Carolina and Big Boned tying for second. Carolina gets my vote–ooh, controversy.
Rodney Atkins–oh yeah, that guy. He performed for a full crowd of country fans and the VIP pit looked like one giant cowboy hat at certain points. It kind of looked like that scary UFO creature from Nope–which would be a big Nope for me. No offense to Atkins as he is a decorated country star, but I couldn’t name one song from his discography. Not for me, but plenty of country loving fans sang their hearts out to his music and that is ultimately the goal of events like Ribfest–come get some food, drink, and listen to music with your best pals for a night. Your feet might get sore from all the walking or your ears might still be ringing hours after the concert,but you got to enjoy some great food made by people who love what they do.
