Cleveland and Berea rib cook-offs coming on Memorial Day weekend

Rib-lovers in Cleveland have two choices for rib cook-offs on Memorial Day weekend: one in the suburbs and the other downtown.

Berea's National Rib Cook-Off will kick off at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds on May 28 with Bike Night.

Motorcyclists can enter at Gate 5 off Bagley Road and park in the bike corral ("the hog pen"); munch on ribs; and listen to the music of Stone Pony, Lawless and Laredo.

Cleveland Country Night will be on May 29 with Lawless, Laredo and the Whiskey Outlaw Band.

Other musical guests include Dashboard Lights, The Girls Band and Breakfast Club on May 29. The Curve, The Clayton Brothers and The Spazmatics will play on May 30.

Wrapping up the event on May 31, Berea will present Sauce, Sixties n' Soul Night with The New Century Beatniks as well as Aftermath, a group that covers the entire '60s decade with the music of The Doors, The Turtles, The Monkees, The Strawberry Alarm Clock and more.

The Berea event is also offering inflatables, a mechanical bull and a rock-climbing wall, as well as the Miss Berea Princess pageant on May 29 from noon to 2:30 p.m.

Admission is free on opening day (May 28) from noon to 11 p.m. Tickets from May 29-31 cost $5 and are available at the gate. Children under 12 are free, and so is parking.

"Our event is a community event for the city of Berea. Whatever money we make on the event goes right into our city," said event publicist Marie Pochatek.

Armadillo's won the top prize for ribs at last year's Berea festival, while Bubba's Smokin' BBQ won best sauce.

For more information on the Berea National Rib Cook-Off, call 440-234-5181 or visit www.BereaRib.com.

In downtown Cleveland, Marc's will present the 19^th Annual Great American Rib Cook-Off & Music Festival at the Time Warner Amphitheater.

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will perform on May 28, followed the next day by the Happy Together 25^th Anniversary Tour, featuring Micky Dolenz, The Grass Roots, The Turtles, Mark Lindsay and The Buckinghams.

Rock takes the stage on May 30 with L.A. Guns, Dokken, Trixter and Danger Danger. The musical talent wraps up on May 31 with Rusted Root and moe.

The downtown show will offer free admission until 3 p.m. on all four days of the festival.

Last year's winners were Famous Dave's BBQ (best ribs) and Sgt. Oink's BBQ (best sauce).

Discount tickets are available at www.Cleveland.com/rib. For more information, call 440-247-2722 or 216-522-4822.

So, why are there two rib festivals in the same town at the same time?

"There was a split some years back," Pochatek said. "One decided on taking the venue downtown and the other decided to keep it at the fairgrounds in Berea. We don't feel that the one downtown affects ours."