Rhythm & Ribs continues to thrive in Tifton
Published 4:42 pm Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Among the attractions for the younger crowds of the festival was this obstacle course, challenging patrons to climb to the top of a tower to be able to slide back down.
Janice Howard and Sydney Perkins of Mike's Seasonings, an all-purpose seasoning vendor, were diving right into their first time at Rhythm & Ribs, offering free samples of their products to interested passersby.
Ben McIntosh was spending his first time in Tifton attending his first Rhythm & Ribs along with his woodworking business Maple Creek Woodworks, offering his customers hand-carved wooden puzzles in over 1400 designs.
Complementary car show Ribs & Rides made its return to the festival this year, bringing a convoy of decked out rides for festival patrons to peruse. Among them was this "humerus" display of a skeleton taking a cursory look under his Chevy.
Representatives of the Steadfast Wildlife Preserve Jessica Piscotta, Ouida Carms, and Micah Twitty offered handmade bracelets and wristbands showing support for the reserve to help raise money to pay for resources in its new location. The wildlife reserve has been operating for over thirty years, but is facing relocation under a government mandate.
Brunswick-based barbecuer Smoke Kings BBQ made its debut appearance at Rhythm & Ribs this year. Headed by Kareem Scriben, the family-owned establishment makes all its seasonings and sauces from scratch and insists on presenting its customers with the same level of quality its staff would enjoy themselves.
The Shady Lane food truck continued to make an appearance at Rhythm & Ribs this year, providing guests with their classic hot dogs and burgers.
Karmilah Johnson and Messiah Nichols were excited to serve patrons of Rhythm & Ribs through their business Brown Sugar Sisters, owned by Messiah and Latilya Nichols. Set up in the makeshift food court near 12th St, they provided festivalgoers with puddings, cupcakes and cake cups to enjoy.
Tifton Harley-Davidson was among the local businesses eager to get involved with the day's festivities. Their tent, manned by Selena Woodall, was stocked with much of the store's merchandise, and held a variety of giveaways throughout the day.
Even before their new business is completed, Chris and Jorjanne Paulk of Paulk Vineyards have been hard at work connecting with the community. Set up just off of the festival main stage, they were selling a variety of frozen wine slushies to festival patrons all throughout the day.
Scoring among the top three in both pulled pork and ribs, Timothy and Angie Lewis of The Look & The Cook, seen here with Pat Neely and Tyron Spearman, were ultimately named the grand champions of the professional division of the barbecue competition.
Professional Frisbee dog show Disc-Connected K9s made a return to the annual music and barbecue festival after their successful debut in last year's showing. Maverick, one of the canine performers, served as an opening act for their latest show, performing a variety of tricks alongside and involving his trainer.
Barbecue team Smokey Mountain BBQ walked away from Rhythm & Ribs with several milestones under their belt--not only was this their first competition in Georgia, they were among only a handful of teams in the competition to earn a perfect score of 600.
The grillmasters of The Meat Show were both the highest ranked team in the backyard division of the barbecue competition and the people's favorite, scoring the title of People's Choice as well as their grand champion Squealbert trophy.
TIFTON — With each passing year, Tifton’s Rhythm & Ribs festival has continued to grow and expand, and its latest showing proved to be no exception.
As the celebration returned to Fulwood Park the weekend of Feb. 28, it seemed there was no part of the area going unused by vendors, entertainment, or patrons gathered for the festivities.
This year’s run saw a massive turnout of vendors of all kinds — makers, craftsmen, and local businesses dotted every corner of the usual routes through the park, food trucks and snack specialists packed into the parking lot near 12th Street, and a new alley for vendors to occupy branched off from the main thoroughfare, taking advantage of the space revitalized by the new playground installation near Eighth Street.
Guests had plenty of activities and entertainment to enjoy at the festival as well, including music and performances across two stages throughout the day, carnival rides, rock climbing and an obstacle course, and mini golf.
Entertainers included a carving show from wood sculptor Joe Woodman, performances from musicians like Corey Smith, Derrick Flowers, and Smokey Jones & The 3 Dollar Pistols, and a live cooking demonstration from restaurateur, TV personality, and “Barbecue King” Pat Neely.
Neely also served as a special guest for the festival’s iconic barbecue competition, helping with announcing the winners of each division and congratulating them on their victory.
This year saw four categories for the contest, spanning across the typical backyard and professional divisions as well as a kid’s competition and a backyard ancillary contest, in which participating teams were asked to make either steak, tacos, or a Bloody Mary to complement their barbecuing.
Barbecue teams Sazon Mejia, Butcher & Banker, and Meat Minions took first place in each respective category, earning $100 for their victory.
Tifton youths participating in the kids competition faced off to make the best barbecue kebabs, with Davis Ross taking home the Golden Skewer trophy as the champion of the contest. An honorable mention was awarded to Emmaline Hester for her creativity in tackling the task at hand.
The backyard and professional divisions were both split into competitions for ribs, pulled pork, and pork loin, barbecuing teams and smokers across both levels all vying for a cash prize and the coveted Squealbert trophies.
First place in the backyard contests for loin, pulled pork, and ribs respectively went to CJ’s Bar-B-Q, Powerhouse, and Sazon Mejia once more, while Meat Minions took home the reserve champion title and the Meat Show was named grand champion.
Meat Show also had the honor of winning the People’s Choice competition, which invited festival guests to try a blind sample of barbecue made by the competing teams and vote on their favorites. They took home an additional trophy styled like a cutting board for winning the competition.
The professional division of the cook-off was a close race across the books, with multiple teams earning the highest possible score of 600.
Shark Bite BBQ’s perfect score earned them first place in pork loin, while Pig-eee-Licious just barely beat out Smokey Mountain BBQ for the gold in pulled pork and The Look & The Cook took home the winning prize for ribs.
Veteran competitor 319 Q, scoring second in both ribs and pork loin, was ultimately crowned reserve champion for their impressive overall scores throughout the competition, but it was The Look & The Cook who won the title of grand champion.
Competition organizers also hosted a new Wild Child program, awarding a prize to the eleventh ranked professional team of any category to ensure they went home with something for their hard work. Which category, and thereby team, would be selected was decided via a random drawing, with Big Baer’s BBQ, the eleventh ranked team in pulled pork, earning the award.
