5th annual Butler Rib & Music Festival kicks off
Few things are more synonymous with summer in America than grilling, and there was plenty of grilling going on inside Butler’s Pullman Park during the first day of the fifth annual Butler Rib & Music Festival on Friday evening.
According to event planner Sal Richetti, roughly 40 vendors will set up shop at the festival, including food and drink vendors. Three of these — Off The Bone BBQ, Gullah Q Lowcountry BBQ and Big Jim’s BBQ — have all been featured on the TLC cable television series BBQ Pitmasters.
“We’ve got some great rib vendors. We’ve got some other great types of vendors for you to enjoy,” Richetti said. “We’ve got hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, French fries, all different types of barbecue. Adult beverages too.”
In addition to running his own event planning company in Pittsburgh, Richetti plays as a drummer for the Earth, Wind and Fire tribute band, Let’s Groove Tonight, which will be playing during the upcoming Butler Italian Festival on Main Street later this month.
Prior to this year, the festival had been held on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show. The organizers opted to move it to Pullman Park, home of the Butler BlueSox. Richetti expects that somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 will attend the festival over the three-day weekend.
“It was just time for a change,” Richetti said. “That was a great venue, but we thought this would be a good fit. Also, this is downtown Butler.”
Richetti promised that the festival will take place rain or shine — which was fortunate, as a storm threatened to dampen the festivities just before the gates opened at Pullman Park on Friday. Fortunately, it amounted only to a light drizzle and the clouds passed by before the crowds packed the stadium.
Over the three-day weekend, guests will be treated to live music from cover bands playing musical tributes to Guns N’ Roses, Fleetwood Mac and Mötley Crüe. Friday evening’s entertainment was provided by Guns N’ Roses tribute band Yinz N’ Roses, who have been together for four years now.
The band consists of vocalist Nate Offutt, guitarists Curtis Botzer and Kyle Helal, drummer Bobby Kunkel and bass player Mikey Frug.
“Sal Richetti … booked us for this show. We played for the last couple of years at the rib festivals in Butler,” said Botzer, who also plays for the band Stone Cold Killer. “He’s a nice guy. I think he saw us at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille (in Warrendale).”
On Saturday, the Rib & Music Festival will feature the Lenny Collini Trio, followed by Fleetwood Mac tribute band Silver Springs. They will be followed Sunday by Mötley Crüe cover band Steel City Crue.
