Linda and I attended the ribfest in Sarasota yesterday and learned a lot about how not to organize a bbq festival.
It was the first "ribfest" we've attended in person and we were excited about the experience. The ones I've read about and seen on television were boisterous affairs and well promoted with large crowds of spectators. Unfortunately, we left festival sorely dissapointed.
The event was held at the old Sarasota fairgrounds and admission was $7 per person. We paid our money and entered the event. They only had three vendors cooking bbq to go along with a beverage vendor, a hot tub distributor, and someone giving camel rides. The bbq was terrible, but you could eat it in an air conditioned building while listening to live entertainment.
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We watched many, many dissapointed faces enter the event, hopeful for a real "ribfest", but almost angry to find a hodge podge festival that appeared "slapped" together at the last minute.
Next year, if there is another year for this event, they need to add 10-15 more rib vendors and promote the event better on television, in the newspaper, and on radio. It was so poorly attended that at one point I counted more police at the event than people eating bbq.
I applaud the air conditioned facility, but give a big thumbs down for the event overall. We should have saved the $35 we spent at the event and $25 we spent for gasoline and stayed home.
6 comments:
Wow, that sounds dreadful. I don't blame you for being disappointed.
I went to the Tennessee State BBQ Championship (KCBS) yesterday in Lenoir City and got to meet Mike and Debbie Davis of Lotta Bull. Great folks.
I think they should stay away from the "state championship" name. How can anyone take that seriously when you have The Jack Daniels and Memphis in May in the same state?
I'm in one of the bands that played in the air conditioned hall. Imagine how it feels to go there thinking that you'll be playing for a big crowd and then find out tha the only people there are the people behind the beer counter and the next band waiting to go on!!
We only saw the first band on Saturday, but they were very good. The people who were in the hall seemed to be enjoying the band, but I agree that the audience was pretty sparse.
PERHAPS THE ANONYMOUS BAND WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO DRAW A CROWD...I HEARD THEY WERE LOCAL BANDS.. IF YOU CAN'T DRAW A CROWD FROM YOUR OWN AREA YOU MUST NOT BE THAT GOOD.
AS FAR AS THE RIBS GO, WE ENOYED THEM AS WELL AS ANY EITHER IN KC OR MEMPHIS...LOOK FORWARD TO ATTENDING NEXT YEAR
I only sampled ribs from two of the three teams at the event, so perhaps you had ribs from the third team. The ribs we had weren't that good. Ribs at a sanctioned bbq contest are much, much better than the ribs we had in Sarasota.
In my opinion if a bbq restaurant in Memphis or K.C. can't cook better than the ribs we ate at the ribfest, they won't be in business for very long.
That is sad. Two years prior the Sarasota Ribfest was held at Ed Smith Stadium. For only $12 you had your choice of 12 ribs from various venders and admission to a Minor League Baseball game. There was a booth set up by the folks that do carriage for Sarasota Memorial Hospital featuring ribs wet cooked in a rum and pepper potion that were outstanding. There ribs made the whole event worthwhile. Relatively low attendance, but hey, it is in Sarasota. In SW Florida, if you want crowds, you have to travel. Nearby crowds are Orlando and Miami.
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