High on the Hog

As you know, I’m a Broadway baby who not-so-mysteriously finds herself living in Reno, NV. Blame it on Handsome Hubby. I love the guy, and he loves his hometown. So, here we are. But don’t get me wrong, Reno has its “unique” cultural charms, like the annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook Off, which attracts 350,000 chowhounds and competitors from countries as far away as Australia and the UK. It’s a pork fest like you’ve never seen or smelled. For six days, people live high on the hog, eating and eating and eating.

There’s loud music, beer (lots and lots of beer), tattoos, merch, peach bread pudding (a personal highlight), beans, cole slaw, potato salad, and of course, sauces, rubs, and ribs of a bazillion varieties.

Folks refer to it as the Super Bowl on the national BBQ rib competition circuit. (Yes, there’s such a thing as a rib competition circuit!) BBQ-ers compete for glory, towering trophies, some six feet tall, and a top judged prize of $19,500. There’s also a “people’s choice award” and an award for best sauce.

High on the Hog Indeed

Here in Reno, well, more accurately, Sparks, NV, the event spans six city blocks. Streets are closed to traffic, and finding a parking space is its own kind of crazy competition. Just ask my blistered feet! Frustrated residents put up parking cones and trash cans in front of their homes to block access.

Hearty eaters show up and chow down, consuming more than 250,000 pounds of ribs during the pork fest. Pointing to her greasy-chinned boyfriend, whose plate was piled high with ribs, one young woman told me, “It’s been his lifelong dream to come to this event.” They had traveled from North Dakota with another couple to attend.

Now in its 36th year, the event began with just six entries and ribs pre-cooked and reheated over Sterno cans. Not so now. The smell of charcoal and ribs is in the air from blocks away. It’s a heady mix on a hot summer day!

The Scene

Second to that peach bread pudding, the most fun is people-watching; the ribs may be pork, but the crowd runs decidedly beefy.

Many of the men walk with their arms puffed out at their sides with that kind of walk/waddle that comes from either too much weight or too much weight lifting.

Many of the women look fierce with multiple piercings and arm, leg, and neck tattoos. In the jostling crowd, when I bump into any of those gals, I always offer a hasty, “Sorry,” just to avoid a glare or worse. It’s a robust but also family-friendly crowd!

Under the Tent

Now there are two ways to enjoy this pork-athon. You can go from booth to booth, standing on long lines to order food and then eat standing up in the blazing sun (or rain), or you can buy pricy tickets for the privilege of going inside a massive tent and eating buffet-style and sitting down.

Now, I’m married to a Rib-sport. So, we “tent it” each year (Yes, we go each and every year.) I don’t know what HH pays for these tickets. I don’t ask. But I know it’s a lot … for ribs. I choke down four, at most, comforted by the knowledge that my rabbi won’t see me. I figure the tickets cost upwards of $150. So, I figure my four ribs cost $37.50 each. Still, if HH is happy …

And compared to the price of a Broadway show ticket, ribs-in-a-tent are a bargain, and to watch HH grinnin’ and a chewin’ like there’s no tomorrow. Well, what can I say? I mean, the man is literally in Hog Heaven!

More from the Reno Cultural Scene

“And that’s not all,” in the immortal words of Porky Pig. The cultural scene abounds this time of year in Northern Nevada!

Just 90 miles north of town in the Black Rock Desert, the annual Burning Man festival, that celebration of self-expression, art, letting go, and whatever, is underway.

And if you’re not up for the dust and wildness of Burning Man, you can view some of its artistic joy in Reno, where sculptures from past festivals are on display downtown.

So, Broadway it ain’t, but food, fun, and art can be found here in the hinterlands.

Just promise me, you won’t tell HH I said something nice about life in the Biggest Little City in the World. Also, please don’t tell my rabbi I attend a rib festival! I’m already in enough trouble with him for any number of other sins I’ve committed!