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.”
