Pittsburgh’s annual Kickoff and Rib Festival has been running on the North Shore for more than 30 years and some longtime vendors say this year’s opening day on Thursday brought the biggest crowds they had ever seen.
It helped that tens of thousands of football fans flooded the North Shore for the highly anticipated rivalry game between the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University, also known as the Backyard Brawl.
Many fans sampled the smokey ribs, barbecued chicken, pulled pork, creamy mac n’ cheese and other delicacies being sold along Art Rooney Avenue.
Al Schroer of After Hours Barbecue said the Orrville, Ohio-based BBQ joint has been coming to Rib Fest for 10 years.
“We expect this to be the biggest day of the week,” Schroer said Thursday afternoon. “We are stoked and ready. We have plenty of ribs cooking.”
Rib Fest runs through Monday. In addition to the food from a dozen vendors, the event also features carnival games, rides for kids, live music, a farmers’ market and a cornhole tournament.
Rib Fest is off to a fast start here in front of Acrisure Stadium. Spoke to After Hours Barbecue, and they say basically all their customers have been football fans waiting for the Pitt-West Virginia Backyard Brawl to start. @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/NiLxlaJuFQ
— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) September 1, 2022
Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said Acrisure Stadium and the Steelers expect one of the largest turnouts Rib Fest has seen this year.
“The vendors are always great and make award-winning food, and to have the Backyard Brawl to kick off what is expected to be an outstanding weekend was a tremendous addition to the Rib Fest,” Lauten said.
The Pitt-West Virginia game brought 70,622 fans to the stadium, the largest crowd for any sporting event in Pittsburgh history.
Two of them, Brian and Melissa Himes, traveled from Poland, Ohio, to cheer on Pitt. They said they have been going to Pitt football games since 2001 and Thursday’s pregame crowd was the biggest one they had seen.
Bad Azz BBQ is one of just three rib vendors from the Pittsburgh-area participating. It is based along Beck’s Run Road in Hays and has been participating in Rib Fest for about seven years.
On Thursday, Scott Bradley helped out his daughter Stacy, who owns the business. He said it was one of the best days the vendor has ever had at Rib Fest.
Chris Fisher of Jim’s Smokin’ Que said the Homestead-based joint smoked hundreds of pounds of meat in preparation for the big day. This is Jim’s Smokin’ Que’s first year at Rib Fest, but it has gone on national tours since 2015.
Fisher said Thursday’s crowd is probably the biggest he has ever seen.
Fisher said Jim’s Smokin’ Que is especially known for its pork butts, which they smoke for more than 20 hours.
“One of our slogans is, ‘You can smell our butts for miles,’” Fisher said.
Rib Fest is running from noon to 11 p.m. on Friday through Sunday and from noon to 9 p.m. on Monday.
