Port City Rib Festival attracts people and vendors from across the country

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  As kids are going back to school and we are getting closer to the end of summer that doesn’t mean the fun dies down here in the southeastern North Carolina.

The Port City Rib Festival is the unofficial start to the festival season.

“Pretty much now to the end of November we are booked just about every weekend for a Rib festival somewhere,” says Poor Piggy’s Operational Manager Mark Wilson.

From now until the end of Fall, a festival will be happening pretty much every weekend in the Cape Fear region.

For some the games and the music are their favorite parts about festivals, but for others it’s the food.

Festival attendee Terri Johnson says, “You got to have a funnel cake. How could you go to a festival without a funnel cake? Now we are elbows deep in ribs and rib sauce. It’s just awesome!”

Good food was the reason why Wilson traded in his office job for the traveling festival life.

“The gratification is seeing someone who comes back to you and tells you how good that sandwich, the rib, that sauce or whatever we have prepared that they purchased how much they liked it,” says Wilson.

Anthony Krockel, festival attendee, said “It tasted really good. It was definitely worth the hour drive from Jacksonville.”

On average 17,000 people attend this 3-day event. In previous years, it was held at the USS NC Battleship, but this year’s venue is across the Cape Fear River at the North Waterfront Park.

Festivities started Friday and lasts through Sunday.

Rib Fest: Event Schedule