The 2025 Labadie Rib Fest • Firing Up the Grills & Cranking Up the Concert Experience

Celebrated author William Faulkner once said, “No barbecue is worth anything unless it takes all day.”   In the case of the fourth annual 2025 LABADIE RIB FEST, returning once again to Bay City’s  Veterans Memorial Park the weekend of July 24-27^th, patrons can experience four full days and nights of mouthwatering ribs from 9 award-winning vendors spanning the country from Michigan to Kentucky, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even Australia, while also enjoying four nights of amazing headlining concerts starring 6 national bands along with many of Michigan’s best regional bands to open the shows.

Known as the ‘Pig Gig’ when it was first conceived by founder Wendy Dore over 20 years ago, a pivotal mission of the festival making it resonate above many of the summer’s regional festivals is that it was designed to better Bay City by funneling proceeds back into the community through the help of a number of non-profit partners such as the Bay County Literacy Council, The Boys & Girls Club of Bay City, CAN Council, and Bay County Habitat for Humanity, to name but a few of the dozen-plus non-profit partners who are able to raise money and increase their memberships throughout the expanse of this four-day event.

After a ten-year run that ended around 2012, Bay City advocate, businessman, and concert promoter Jay Samborn decided to spearhead an effort to revive the festival back in 2022, which resulted in a remarkably strong public response that has grown since the festival was re-introduced, proving how successful traditions can ignite, inspire, and spark engagement within a community.

“The Rib Fest has grown every year and when we brought it back it was just like it never left,” reflects Samborn. “We’ve consistently added bigger bands to our entertainment line-up and we probably average about 5,000 people a day, so this year we expect to draw at least 20,000 to 30,000 people through the four-day weekend.”

Labadie Rib Fest Hours will run as follows: Thurs, July 24 • 4-11PM; Friday, July 25 •  Noon-11PM ; Saturday, July 26  • 11AM-11PM; Sunday, July 27 • Noon - 10 PM. 

On each day of the festival in addition to enjoying the best BBQ from across the country, patrons can enjoy musical acts, dance groups, magic shows, games, and contests on the Samborn Entertainment Stage, while the Budweiser Entertainment Tent will feature the area’s best local bands each afternoon when the festival opens. A daily festival pass is only $10.00 in advance and $12.00 at the gate, with a 4-day weekend pass at $30.00, affording one extra cash to sample more of those exquisite ribs. Kids 12 and under are always admitted free to the festival

Additionally, there will be a Charity Celebrity Rib Cook-off on Friday, July 25^th with free admission from noon to 2 PM. Featuring local news, radio, TV, and media personalities who will be concocting their own special sauce recipes, with the public voting for the best one in order to raise money for favorite charities. The REVIEW will be participating in this celebrity cook-off hoping to secure the top title as they did back in 2006 with their special ‘Bourbon Sauce’ recipe.

This year Saturday is also Family Day with free admission from 11:00 am until Noon. “We decided to offer one hour of free admission on Saturday in addition to the two-hours on Friday because we had a number people claiming they had to work on Friday and didn’t want to pay a gate admission to come eat ribs, so decided to give them these early windows of opportunity on both days,” explains Jay.

Cranking Up the Concert Experience

While the Labadie Rib Fest has earned a legendary reputation for bringing top-flight national entertainment to the region’s summer concert stage, this year they are taking things to a much higher and broader level of appeal and notoriety, which in turn is drawing even more visitors from throughout the state of Michigan and beyond.

“The bigger and better we can make this event, the more we can benefit the local charities this event supports, because the more people that come through our gates the more the charities can generate through raffles, donations, or simply to get awareness out about their organizations,” notes  Jay.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on the pre-sale tickets and are seeing people coming from Ohio, Indiana, Petoskey, Traverse City, Jackson, Ann Arbor, because the line-up this year features artists people are eager to see, which was a big part of our goal in terms of grabbing statewide attention.”

Because of the rising costs involved with featuring nationally renowned artists, who currently summon as much as $50,000 per show or higher, but in turn generate bigger demand and larger audiences, this year Jay says they’ve also upgraded the audience concert experience by offering more premium seating with chairs.

“In the past we’ve featured only two front sections of seating and the rest was all lawn seating, but because of the of the caliber of performing acts featured this year we are expanding that to accommodate the increased volume of people coming from out of town to these shows,” he explains.  “This year for the concerts we’ll have three tiers of seating, so there will Bronze, Silver, and Gold seating at the front of the stage. Each section will expand to the back, so people don’t have to bring lawn chairs.”

“With their festival pass, of course, people are welcome to bring a long chair to the concerts, only the seating is going to be a little further back  in the center for the festival seating because of the new experience we’re offering, which is designed to improve not only the quality of entertainment but a broad array of affordable opportunities to enjoy it.”

Here’s the breakdown on the line-up:

Thursday • July 24 • JUMP - Val Halen Tribute wsg ‘Movin in Stereo’ CARS Tribute

Get ready for an epic night of ‘80s Rock ‘n Roll.  Kicking off the first night of national entertainment is this phenomenal Van Halen Tribute band out of Cleveland Ohio.  According to Samborn, “The lead singer who performs David Lee Roth is all over the place and jumps like the real deal; and The CARS Tribute is also incredibly good.” Gold & Silver Preferred Seating Sections all include a chair for this show at $22.00 & $13.20, and your concert ticket is also your admission into the festival. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the show starts at 6:00 PM.

Friday • July 25 • SEBASTIAN BACH wsg GREAT WHITE

Two legendary Metal bands ignite the landscape on Friday evening. Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row, is known for his powerful vocals and theatrical performances. Great White is known for their late 80s hit "Once Bitten ... Twice Shy". Gold, Silver and Bronze Seating Sections all include a chair for this show and run $75.36, $48.50, and $33.00 respectively. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the show starts at 6:00 PM.

Saturday • July 26 • BLUE OYSTER CULT wsg Nameless

Get set for an exceptional and epic night of Classic Rock ‘n Roll with the legendary Blue Oyster Cult. Selling 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States, their fusion of hard rock with psychedelia and penchant for occult, fantastical and tongue-in-cheek lyrics had a major influence on heavy metal music. After developing a cult following the group enjoyed mainstream success with Don’t Fear the Reaper, Godzilla, and Burnin’ For You.

“I think the last time BOC performed in Bay City was 20 years ago at the River Roar,” notes Samborn, “so this should be a huge night for the festival.  Openers will be Nameless, a very strong and talented local group.”

Gold, Silver and Bronze Seating Sections all include a chair for this show and run $75.36, $48.50, and $33.00 respectively. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the show starts at 6:00 PM.

Sunday • July 27 • TRACE ADKINS wsg The FAMILY TRADITION BAND

An epic night of country music closes out the 2025 Labadie Rib Fest as Country music star Trace Adkins takes to the stage, with doors opening at 4:00 PM. Special Guests are The Family Tradition Band, who have won numerous honors in the Country Division at the annual REVIEW  Music Awards. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album Dreamin' Out Loud, released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since then, he has released ten more studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations. In addition, Adkins has charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard country music charts.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Seating Sections all include a chair and run $98.50, $73.50 and $38.50 respectively.

Family Engagement • A Celebration of Charity & Community

Given that since its inception one of the primary goals for the Labadie Rib Fest since has been to provide a venue for charitable community organizations to raise revenue, how much money does Jay estimate has been generated back to these Bay City charities?

“It’s hard to peg an exact number, but I would say it’s in the range of tens of thousands of dollars” he explains. “The charities raise the money inside the event over its four day duration, so we don’t really know an exact figure because they do their own accounting, and not everybody reports back to us.”

“We create an atmosphere for charities to generate revenue within the event, and some are very vocal about the money they’ve raised. Bay City Academy, for example, has raised $10,000 to take kids on 30 field trips with money, and we strive to make donations back to the charities and non-profits who volunteer to work and help us organize the event, based upon their participation.”

“We produce the Rib Fest to  make it affordable for our community, so people don’t have to spend $150 on one ticket to get a balcony seat in a large arena to see a national act. It’s priced reasonably and affordably, offering a broad range of options for all income brackets, so there is no reason people can’t go to these shows, which is the whole idea.”

Since re-igniting the Rib Fest four years ago, Jay says the biggest challenges right now are in the organization. “You’ve still got to jump through all the same hoops each year, but now it’s getting a little easier to navigate because now we know where the hoops are,” he smiles. “We’ve got great support from the business community, as well as over 300 volunteers, which is really what makes this event go.”

“Bay City loves this event and each year I think we get more and more people from all over the state and beyond showing up simply because it’s such a great relaxing way to spend four days in the summer,” he continues.

“We’ve got nine rib teams from around the country and the return of one international participant from Australia, The Awesome Aussie, who is coming that to this year’s event, which a lot of people are excited about. Booking these rib teams is a lot like booking entertainment, because basically they re touring and going place-to-place, so they have a line-up and have to be available. Obviously, we have to hold an event they’re excited to come to, because it costly for these guys to travel the country and do what they do.  But they’re excited about Bay City. They’ve heard great stories of past events, and people are still talking about what a great event it is today.”

Tournaments & Special Events

Returning Family Events and Tournaments for the 2025 Labadie Rib Fest consist of the popular Cornhole Tournament slated for July 25 & 26, where players can enter teams in social or competitive contests and register online. Winners receive cash prizes.

With the ‘Ride to the Rib Fest’ Motorcycle Rally participants can start at Holeshot Harley-Davidson in Mt. Pleasant  and ride up to the rib fest on Saturday, July 26^th from 1 pm to 6 pm.

When riders get their ticket and arrive they can eat ribs, party, and enjoy Blue Oyster Cult perform, along with VIP bike parking.

Another important event is the 5K Run/Walk, which is set for Sunday, July 27^th. Which will start at 11:00 am and go until noon. A staple of the Rib Fest since its inception, race participants will receive a day pass to enjoy the festival for the entire day along with a t-shirt. Medals will be given out to the top 2 in each age division for runners & top 2 overall in walkers.

Lastly, the Little Piggy Marketplace consists of a remarkable collection of upwards of fifty craft vendors selling their creations from around the state. “We have a lot of art and fabrics vendors for people to browse their work, and each year this seems to grow,” notes Jay.

“We also encourage people to park on Midland Street and check out all the new things going on. As they walk into the park they’ll be surprised at all the new businesses that have opened and they can stop at their favorite watering hold on the way to the park.”

Tickets are available at BayCityRibFest.com and designated outlets to be announced, plus you can find our more information and last minute details on the Labadie Rib Fest facebook page.