CVB head: Van Wert Rib Fest officially over

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The bad news: After 12 years of putting on the Van Wert Rib Fest, the Van Wert Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is officially calling it quits.

“Last year’s Rib Fest was the last Rib Fest that the CVB was going to do,” said CVB Executive Director Larry Lee, noting that there were several reasons for the decision, with the chief being the cost of putting the festival on. Last year’s festival cost $46,000, but revenues came nowhere near that figure — an important factor, since the festival was created in 2006 as a fundraiser for the CVB.

“The revenue we were getting in return just didn’t grow like the expenses were growing,” Lee explained. “It got to the point where it financially made no sense to continue.”

In addition to the lack of revenues, it took a lot of work by a relatively small group of volunteers to put on the festival each year.

The good news, though, is that the CVB will now partner with Main Street Van Wert (MSVW) to expand and improve September’s Harvest Moon Festival. Mitch Price, MSVW executive director, said that, after struggling for a couple of years, the Harvest Moon Festival really came into its own last year.

“The Harvest Moon Festival went from one of Main Street’s border-line events that was breaking even to one of our best events last year,” Price noted, adding he was pleased to see the CVB interested in helping improve and grow the event even more.

Both directors are excited about this year’s festival, which will run from noon to approximately 11 p.m. Saturday, September 28. In addition to the 10 food trucks that have already committed to providing a variety of different cuisine choices for festival-goers, there will be a beer tent and activities that include the popular outhouse races, kids’ games and activities provided by the YWCA of Van Wert County, and ax throwing.

Entertainment will include two bands: Kaitlyn Schmit and the Move and Cadillac Ranch. Downtown businesses are also planning to get more involved in this year’s festival, Price said.

Some new and ongoing sponsors have also stepped up to provide funding for the festival, with Cooper Farms, Kitchens Inc., Avangrid Renewables, and Central Insurance Companies all major sponsors for this year’s event. 

Price and Lee said having volunteers from both groups involved in the festival will make it easier for the event to expand, while also increasing revenues, which the CVB and MSVW will share equally.

So, while one festival is ending, another event is poised to get even better with two groups now involved in making it happen.