Wooster Rib & Music Festival is May 29-30

The Friends of Wayne County Fair will hold its 15th annual Wooster Rib & Music Festival Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30, at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Proceeds from the family-friendly event benefit the workings of the Buckeye Agricultural Museum & Education Center.

Gates for the festival, which has free admission and parking, open at 4 p.m. Friday, with activities running until 11 p.m. The event reopens at 11 a.m. Saturday and continues until 11 p.m. A variety of activities will take place both days.

The festival will feature four professional rib vendors who will compete for cook-off honors while serving up not only ribs but a variety of other menu items. Numerous additional food vendors will be on hand.

Friday’s activities will open with a cruise-in for antique autos and show cars of all types. Opening at the same time will be the Hog Wild Fun Zone for kids, featuring inflatables and Cozy Coupe car races.

Van Waylon from Louisville, Kentucky, who plays Memphis blues and ’80s/’90s rock, will take the stage from 5-7:30 p.m.

A cornhole tournament will start at 6 p.m.

The country-to-pop/’50s to ’60s group Tom’s Kitchen Table will perform from 8-11 p.m. to close out the evening.

On Saturday, gates will reopen at 11 a.m. when the rib vendors begin serving, and the Hog Wild Fun Zone starts providing entertainment for youngsters.

From noon to 2 p.m., the classic rock group Jukebox Junkies will perform, followed from 2:30-4:30 p.m. by the cover band Muck Storm from the metro Detroit area.

The auction for the goldfish races will start at 3:30 p.m., with races at 4 p.m.

Sign-up for the Buckeye State Tractor Pull, open to all ages, will open at 6 p.m., with the contest starting at 7 p.m.

The rock band Blackout will play from 5-7:30 p.m., followed by Rock Generation playing a tribute to classic rock ’n’ roll from 8:15-11 p.m. to close out the evening.

A beer and wine tent will operate each day from opening time until 10:30 p.m., and a variety of other raffles and contests will be held. Radio station 104.5 The River will broadcast from the grounds both days.

Mike Buchholz, president of Friends of Wayne County Fair, said the rib and music festival is one of the museum’s most important fundraisers of the year, with money raised going to support a wide array of projects at the museum, which is located directly across from the Wayne County Fairgrounds.