Festivals

This weekend we went to the Jazz and Rib Festival in the Arena District of Columbus, Ohio. This was the thirty fifth year that this event has been held. I had no idea that it had been going on for that long. It is a well organized family friendly event that I hope continues for another thirty five years.
There were 36 different jazz bands that were scheduled to play on two different stages over the course of three days. It is free to enter. Of course parking isn't free. Most of the parking lots that we drove by charged $10.00 to park in. We were lucky enough to find an open parking meter. It cost us $2.25 to park only a short distance walk from the event itself.
The festival not only offers free jazz concerts, but eating contests, a 5k color run (which I want to participate in next year), and twenty-three food vendors to choose from. This is a big deal for the vendors. Not only are they making money, but they're also competing for prestigious awards. Winning one of these awards gains national recognition for these small business owners. Many of the food booths had tables set up next to them to display all of their trophies won from past events. The Jazz and Rib Festival handed out six different awards: The Critics Choice Award, The All-Ohio Champion Award, The Best Sauce Award (some will argue that it's all about the sauce), The Big Whigs' Award, The Silver Axe Award (decided on by Columbus City Firefighters), and of course, The People's Choice Award. There was a big yellow bucket set up along the side of the street where we could cast our vote.

As soon as we walked into the event, the first thing we saw was a huge open grass area. This is where one of the concert stages was set up. After walking past the live music, we found the street where all of the food vendors were. It wasn't hard to find. All we had to do was follow the smoke that was coming from the many barbecue pits and grills. The smell from all of the freshly cooked meat was intoxicating. We didn't know where to begin. It was a bit overwhelming, because there were so many booths to choose from.

Where do we start?

This guy looks like he knows what he's doing.

We finally decided to go with these guys. They were from Memphis. We figured that if anyone knew anything about cooking ribs, it would be someone from Memphis. Aren't the Neelys from Memphis?
Anyway, the food we ordered was good. My son ordered barbecue nachos. I had a barbecue pork sandwich with baked beans and a side of coleslaw. My husband and daughter ordered ribs and french fries. I'm not a big fan of red meat, but my sandwich was good. The meat was tender and lean. The extra sauce on my sandwich was also good, but my favorite part of the meal was the coleslaw. It wasn't creamy. I doubt that it had any mayonnaise in it at all. It tasted clean and fresh. It had a fair amount of freshly ground pepper, and I love pepper.
After we ordered our food, we found a spot in front of the stage to sit in. The grass wasn't itchy or wet, so we were comfortable eating our food there. But next time I will bring a picnic blanket. The music was nice. My husband and I enjoyed it. We could have stayed there longer, but teenagers aren't too keen on jazz music. My daughter kept saying that it was too loud., and my son began pestering us because he had to pee. Ahh...I love my kids :)
We had fun. The food was good. The music was good. The weather was good. It was a nice opportunity to get out and explore a part of the wonderful world that we live in!

The loves of my life.