Tifton to host third free Rhythm & Ribs fest

TIFTON — Nothing helps you get over an abandoned “Love Affair” like a plate of barbecue and some good music.

A committee of civic-minded officials here, looking for an event to replace the long-running downtown Love Affair arts festival, combined an annual barbecue cook-off competition with elements of a music festival and the Love Affair to come up with Rhythm & Ribs, a “barbecue festival” that brings out the best pro and backyard grillmasters to compete for some $10,000 in prize money.

While the smell of home-cooked barbecue will draw the hungry and the curious to historic downtown Fulwood Park for the third Rhythm & Ribs all-day festival, planned March 5 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., others looking for a fun Saturday outdoors will get all they want and more, from kids activities to arts and crafts vendors to the unique “silent disco” concept.

Oh, and there will be music. Lots of music.

“This is definitely an event by committee,” said Chris Beckham, a man of many hats who does public relations work with the Tift County Chamber of Commerce, the Spearman Agency and the city of Tifton. “A local group interested in outreach and marketing got together to come up with a way to bring more things downtown. Tyron Spearman had brought a competition barbecue event to the city a couple of years ago, and we all batted around ideas and came up with the concept of adding music to the barbecue event.

“(Tifton attorney) Patrick Kunes had a lot of contacts in the music business and had been involved in putting together other events, so we had him line up the musical acts. We kicked off Rhythm & Ribs a couple of years ago, and from the first year to last year the growth was phenomenal. Last year was a big home run, so now we’re running with it, trying to build on that success.”

Kunes did his part, lining up “newgrass” stars the Larry Keel Experience and alternative Southern rock, country, bluegrass pioneer Col. Bruce Hampton and his new band the Madrid Express to headline the day of music. Also scheduled to appear are the fast-rising Sweet Tea Trio, Booze Mountaineers, Royal & Toulouse, Beau + Luci, and Danny Dawson.

“I have friends in the music industry, many of them I made while attending the University of Georgia,” Kunes said. “Rhythm & Ribs was Tyron Spearman’s brainchild, but it kind of came together because you had a committee of folks who all wanted to bring a fun event downtown and everyone was on the same page.

“When we started talking about music, I wanted to kind of scatter things around, get a little something for everybody. We wanted to provide quality entertainment for the people in this area that they wouldn’t have to travel 300 or 400 miles to see.”

One of the compelling elements of Rhythm & Ribs, event officials say, is its location.

“You can’t beat Fulwood Park for an outdoor festival,” Angela Elder, the assistant tourism coordinator with the Spearman Agency, said. “It has a natural amphitheater for the musical performances, and it’s shady and cool for the barbecue teams. They love that they’re not standing on asphalt while cooking.

“Having the event that first weekend in March has turned out to be the perfect time. It’s not extremely hot yet, and everyone’s ready to get outside. We’ll continue to build on what we’ve done so far, but I think we’ve hit on the right formula. We had more than 8,000 people come out last year. That’s phenomenal.”

Attendees who may not be fans of the artists performing at any given time or who want to fill the downtime between acts with music of their liking can take advantage of the Silent Disco concept, which provides three-channel headphones that offer the sound from the event stage, an urban mix and a Top 40/country mix. Adults will also have an opportunity to purchase armbands that allow them to consume alcohol in a designated area.

“We had Edwin McCain as part of the festival the first year, but he played at the Tift Theater,” Beckham said. “It felt like we were separating it into two different things, though. I think the decision to have everything at Fulwood Park adds to the festival.”

Admission to Rhythm & Ribs is free, and while pro barbecue teams must register with the Georgia Barbecue Association to compete for the event’s $3,000 grand prize, backyard teams must register with event coordinators. For additional information, go online to www.tiftonribsfest.com, email [email protected] or call (229) 386-0216.

“We all got involved in this to give the people in this region an opportunity to get out and have a good time,” Kunes said. “Personally, I just like to see people smile and dance.”