Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival returns
After the Rock’n Ribfest ended its 16-year run offering ribs, other barbecue favorites, craft beer and live music, new organizers continued the tradition in 2019 under a new name. Pandemic woes then shelved the event for two consecutive years, but the Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival — now a fundraiser for the Merrimack Rotary Club — is back.
The event is scheduled for Friday, July 15, through Sunday, July 17, at Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack, featuring a diverse mix of longtime “ribbers” and new food and beverage vendors.
It was traditionally held over Father’s Day weekend; a collective decision among Ribfest vendors and organizers was made to push this year’s event back a few weeks to the middle of July.
“When we had to take two years off due to Covid, we did lots and lots of introspection on what worked and what didn’t work … because we had plenty of time to figure those things out,” organizer Jeremy Garrett of the event management company J2L Events said. “The top suggestion was to move the date, and hopefully get out of the wetter spring weather. … Being the same weekend as [Laconia] Bike Week was also thought to impact attendance negatively.”
As in previous years, attendees can expect to find barbecue options from local and nationally renowned eateries. Some of this year’s participating vendors — like Armadillo’s BBQ and Austin’s Texas Lightning BBQ — are coming from as far away as Illinois and Texas, respectively. They’ll be offering half and whole racks of ribs, in addition to pulled pork sandwiches, burgers and an array of house-made sauces and rubs. A few local barbecue favorites — like Up In Your Grill, a food trailer based in Merrimack — also join in on the fun.
But there’s also lots more to discover at Ribfest beyond just barbecue — in fact, Garrett said that was a chief focus for organizers when the event changed hands three years ago.
“We’ve got some of the carnival-type foods, the french fries and the fried doughs … and we’ve also got a whole diverse selection of food trucks that are coming in,” he said. “All in all, it’s around 25 food and dessert vendors … so hopefully everyone can find something that they like.”
Donali Food Truck, for instance, is a newcomer to Ribfest. The Nashua-based food truck features lobster rolls and Italian sausage subs as its cornerstone offerings, cooked with fresh ingredients alongside additional menu items like barbecue chicken sandwiches and smash burgers.
This is also the debut event for Carla’s Coffee, which is in the process of rebranding from Jayrard’s Java Cafe. New owner Carla Reardon recently purchased the trailer from founder Jared Turgeon. Carla’s Coffee will be offering a variety of coffees and espresso-based drinks at Ribfest using Cafe Britt coffee from Costa Rica, in addition to some smoothies and lemonades.
Other trucks will include Friends 4 OBA, brought to you by the owners of OBA Noodle Bar in downtown Exeter — they’re known for their authentic Asian fusion street food options. The Seacoast Pretzel Co. truck will also be there with its fresh Bavarian-style soft pretzels, while Cheese Louise, based in Conway, will offer creative takes on gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.
A full schedule of live music is planned throughout all three days, with a total of 11 acts each performing roughly 90-minute sets. Garrett said music styles will run the gamut from hard rock and blues to indie, pop, country and reggae, and nearly all are songs original to the artist.
Attendees are welcome to bring folding lawn or camp chairs and blankets to the festival to enjoy the music. While there isn’t a children’s area in the traditional sense as in previous Ribfest events, a few participating local organizations are providing family-friendly activities of their own. The Daniel Webster BSA Council’s Mobile Base Camp, for instance, will feature an inflatable archery range, Spikeball, soccer darts and a backyard bass fishing activity. The Rugged Axe, a Manchester-based ax throwing venue, is also expected to bring its mobile trailer.
The 5-mile race that was normally held on Sunday during Ribfest weekend is also returning, and there will be face painting courtesy of Trading Faces and free demonstrations from Bedford Martial Arts Academy. A limited number of VIP tickets, sold on all three event days, grant attendees access inside Anheuser-Busch’s Biergarten with a greater variety of beverage options.
Participating food and beverage vendors
• Armadillo’s BBQ (Illinois, find them on Facebook)
• Austin’s Texas Lightning BBQ (Texas, austintexaslightning.com)
• Butch’s Smack Your Lips BBQ (New Jersey, smackyourlipsbbq.com)
• Canterbury Kettle Corn (Connecticut, find them on Facebook)
• Carla’s Coffee (Nashua, carlascoffeenh.com)
• Cheese Louise (Conway, eatcheeselouise.com)
• Dandido Sauce (Manchester, dandidosauce.com)
• Donali Food Truck (Nashua, donalifoodtruck.com)
• Friends 4 OBA (Exeter, friends4oba.com)
• Holly’s Kona Ice (Pelham, hollyskonaice.com)
• Jeannette’s Concessions (Hudson, find them on Facebook)
• Phily’s Good Eats (Candia, find them on Facebook)
• Saucehound BBQ (Watertown, Mass., saucehoundbbq.com)
• Seacoast Pretzel Co. (Rollinsford, seacoastpretzelcompany.com)
• Sillie Puffs (Manchester, silliepuffs.com)
• Simply Cannoli (Douglas, Mass., simplycannoli.com)
• Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream (Nashua, find them on Facebook)
• Thee Taco Dude (Sterling, Mass., theetacodude.com)
• The Travelling Foodie (Nashua, jrmcateringllc.com)
• Trolley Dogs (Framingham, Mass., find them on Facebook)
• Up In Your Grill (Merrimack, upinyourgrill.com)
• Wild Bill’s Soda (Waterford, N.Y., drinkwildbills.com)
Live music schedule
Friday, July 15
• James McCarthy: 4:30 to 6 p.m.
• Chris Fits Band and Ken Clark: 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 16
• Gadabout: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Best Not Broken: noon to 1:30 p.m.
• Ben Cote Band: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
• Nick Drouin: 4 to 5:30 p.m.
• The Gravel Project: 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 17
• Supernothing: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Lexi James: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Feverslip: 3 to 4:30 p.m.
• Southern Yankee: 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival
When: Friday, July 15, 4:30 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, July 16, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 17, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack
Cost: Online tickets purchased in advance are $12 for adults, $10 for veterans and seniors over 60, and $5 for kids ages 6 to 12. At the gate, tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for veterans and seniors over 60, and $6 for kids ages 6 to 12. Kids ages 5 and under are free. VIP tickets are also available this year, for $27.50 in advance and $35 at the gate (if available) — that grants you access to the air-conditioned Biergarten lounge with an increased beverage variety.
Visit: greatamericanribfest.com
Event is rain or shine. No pets, weapons or outside food or beverages are allowed, except for one sealed bottle of water. Premier parking is available onsite at $20 per day. Parking is also available across the street at Elbit Systems (220 Daniel Webster Hwy.) for $10 per day. There will be no shuttle services this year.
Featured photo: Scenes from the 2019 Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival. Photos by Gary Reynolds.