Ribs, music and more on tap at the Berlin Harvest Festival
The annual Berlin Harvest Festival grand parade is a celebration of community. This year’s festival will take place in Berlin Sept. 6-7.
For those who have enjoyed everything Berlin Harvest Festival has to offer in early September, they can almost taste and smell the savory goodness of pork ribs already.
On Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7, Berlin will be a beehive of activity during the annual Berlin Harvest Festival Rib Cook-off, an event that has become one of the area’s largest draws, satisfying both locals and tourists with a blend of tangy and zesty ribs and other mouthwatering food, live music on the square, a grand parade featuring a stream of local participants, and a fireworks display.
While the event began as a one-day affair, it grew so rapidly it became a two-day event, and this year’s activities should continue the trend of creating plenty of excitement.
According to Gary Yoder, president of the Berlin Main Street Merchants, which hosts the event, it takes all hands on deck to pull off the undertaking.
“I’m always humbled and amazed at how every single one of our members comes through by contributing to make our Harvest Festival a success,” Yoder said. “People just find ways to contribute, which is amazing because it takes a great deal of work to pull all of this together.”
This annual event ushers in the autumn season.
This year nine rib vendors from across Northeast and Central Ohio will set up along Main Street beginning Friday at noon, where these professional vendors will dish out ribs and other food.
There will be plenty of activities throughout the day including the live music on the square. Low Gap will perform from 1:30-4:30 p.m., with Ren Rocks taking the stage from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
At 7 p.m. there will be a live auction featuring about 25 different items. The merchants will team up with a pair of local nonprofit entities to support through the proceeds, with this year’s recipients being Nehemiah Release Time Bible Education and Juneberry Hill Schoolhouse, a new school created specifically for children with special needs.
The auction includes two e-bikes, poly lawn furniture, a Blackstone griddle, gift certificates, two round trip bus tickets to Florida courtesy of Pioneer Trails, a Stihl chain saw, a Lake Erie fishing trip, a dining room table with chairs and more.
“One of the most important reasons we do this is to be able to support great organizations like these that are making a wonderful impact on many people’s lives, supporting causes we believe in,” Yoder said. “This whole event is about our community coming together to share and to support one another and to celebrate.”
There will be a host of crafters set up at Sol’s all day, and to culminate day one, there will be a fireworks display sponsored by Sheiyah Market that will take place just south of the market at dusk.
Day two will bring back more of the smoky taste of ribs starting at 10 a.m., with the rib judging taking place at 2 p.m. Local judges will have the difficult task of tasting the ribs and picking out the winners for the Judge’s Choice. There also will be a People’s Choice, which people may vote for throughout the two days. Winners will be awarded at 4 p.m.
This year’s participants include After Hours, Big E’s Southern “Q,” Bogey’s Smokin’ BBQ, Country Corners BBQ, Hillside BBQ, Mojo’s Famous BBQ, Ross Mountain BBQ and Swine BBQ.
Other food vendors include Amish doughnuts, chipotle bowls, freshly squeezed lemonade, smoked corn and more.
At 4:30 p.m. the raffle drawing will take place, and there’s more live music featuring High Country Bluegrass from 1-3:30 p.m. and County Line from 3:30-6 p.m. The grand parade will kick off at 6 p.m. and will cap off two days of fun and food.
“The parade is a slice of Holmes County because we have participants from all over the county representing businesses, organizations and more,” Yoder said. “It’s become such a community-oriented thing, and we are thrilled to bring everyone together to celebrate Holmes County and our community.”
For a complete list of auction items and further details of the event including parade registration information, visit www.visitberlinohio.com/berlin-harvest-festival.