After mounting factors had made it increasingly harder for the Ribfest to be hosted, organizers found it would be best to cancel the event and focus on new efforts for the next summer season.

Scott Schrecengost, Celoron mayor and Ribfest chairman, said the cause is related to a multitude of events that have occurred since the COVID pandemic, all of which have lessened the attendance and profitability of the event. Schrecengost noted that the initial years following the pandemic saw the intense wildfires throughout Canada, which resulted in orange skies and air quality alerts here in Chautauqua County. Following years continued to see poor weather conditions throughout the weekends when Ribfest was scheduled which has caused far fewer people to attend the beloved tradition.

“So we had air quality alerts that kept people from coming to the event. We’ve had weather, between rain and wind and cold, we haven’t had a lot of really warm days in the last, probably, three years of this event. I do think that does keep people away,” said Schrecengost. “When you have a decline in people you’re going to have a decline in revenue, the rib vendors don’t sell as many ribs. The people that’re trying to sell stuff down there, they can’t benefit from low attendance. So it almost makes it not worthwhile for the organizations, or any of these people, to show up to sell.”

Schrecengost noted that another struggle that may affect attendance are other events throughout the county. With summer only having so many weekends, Schrecengost stated that Ribfest inevitably falls on the same days as various other events throughout the county. Since Ribfest has been running for 15 years now, Schrecengost noted that many repeat visitors may be choosing to check out some new events instead. Schrecengost encouraged members of the community that do wish to continue to see the event to voice support and continue to show up to the future events.

A vendor cooking up ribs at the Celeron Ribfest in 2025. P-J file photo

Currently, organizers of the event are focusing efforts on planning for the summer 2027 event, according to Schrecengost. While the decision for this year is set in stone, Schrecengost stated that coordinating organizations and individuals are hopeful that the event will be able to return in full force in the future.

“There’s a lot of things that contribute to not having it this year. The price of insurance, the price of product, the utilities keep going up, I mean everything just keeps going up,” said Schrecengost. “It’s gotten to the point where the profit margin doesn’t really pan out to all of the volunteer hours that are contributed to this event.”