Fri 5/26 @ noon-11PM
Sat 5/27 & Sun 5/28 @ 11AM-11PM
Mon 5/29 @ 11AM-7PM
It’s that time of year again: Festivals are in full swing, with the opportunity to indulge in the kind of food you’d never have at home, hear tribute bands (although many of our local festivals actually book original bands as well!) and enjoy the nice outdoor weather. This week you can attend a different festival-style event each day from Friday through Monday (Memorial Day).
If ribs and tribute bands are your thing, there’s the Berea National Rib Cook-Off and Beer Festival, a Memorial weekend tradition since 1998, where money raised goes to help fund projects in the local community such as the Coe Lake Bridge and Berea Clock Tower via its sponsor, the Berea City Club. So you can get rib sauce all over your shirt and feel good about it!
The event features elite teams of rib chefs from the local area and across the country, competing for a variety of awards. Try them all and pick your favorite. If you’re a vegetarian don’t worry: there’ll be plenty of other “traditional fair food,” so you can fill up on funnel cakes!
Saturday is the big day for activities. The Miss Berea Princess pageant takes place from 11am-1pm. From 2-8pm, Corvette Cleveland will have 40 cars on display. At 4pm watch people pig out during the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest — or sign up to participate yourself! And in addition live music every day, there’s a kids’ area with an inflatable bounce house, bungee trampoline and a climbing wall.
Admission to the event, which takes place at the Berea Fairgrounds, is $10, free before 5pm on Friday and free for kids 12 and under. Retired and active military personnel with ID are free on Monday. Get more information here.