Shep’s on 6th’s 1st Ever Rib Competition Brings Brainerd Together

Although the Brainerd Jaycees cancelled what would have been their 23rd annual Street Fest this past weekend, the Brainerd Lakes Area still came together for a rib fest at the Shep’s on 6th Sports Bar.

After learning that Street Fest, an annual downtown Brainerd staple, would go on hiatus, Shep’s general manager Cody Shepherd figured the bar could take on at least one of the event’s traditions.

“Our two Shep’s teams here that we got behind us, they really wanted to cook this year and they offered to come in here and cook for our customers at Shep’s that day,” Shepherd said. “And I was like, ‘Well, why don’t we just invite everybody that had already planned on cooking to do it in our alley?’ Talked to the city, some city council members, and they were like, ‘Yeah, if you got the volunteers and the help to do it, why not run with it?’”

Rib prep for Shep’s Fest began Friday evening, and on Saturday, 14 teams competed for a slice of the $1,000 prize pool.

“We’re paying out $500, $300, and $200 to the top three, and then the winner of the People’s Choice will get $100,” Shepherd explained. “It’s not as much as most barbecue competitions are, but it’s what we could come up with in a week. So, we think [it’s still] pretty competitive out here, there’s a lot of good food.”

And while all those participating had their eyes on the prize, it was the atmosphere filling the Shep’s back alley that had everyone in attendance hungry for more.

“It’s been awesome,” Shep’s Fest Participant Jace Stallman said. “The energy, people coming in; it’s all day, people have been smelling what we’ve been cooking. They’re happy to get in here. It was tough early to say we didn’t have anything ready for them until that 6 o’clock start. Anytime we can gather like this and just have good vibes all around, I think is just good for everyone, great for the city, and just hope for continuing on a great rest of the weekend.”

In addition to the Brainerd Lakes Area getting to taste test a bevy of rib racks, all the proceeds from Shep’s Fest went to the bar’s Elbow Foundation, which supports scholarships for area high school students in technical career fields.

“The Elbows, they’ve been all about community since they started back in the 1990s,” Stallman added. “They’re just focused on giving back to these kids who maybe need a little bit of help, anything we can do to get these students coming in into fields where there’s a lot of job opportunities out there. We need our welders, we need our electricians, we need our plumbers. Anything we can do to help them make that a reality, I think that’s a big thing.”

Team “Uff-Da” took first place and also won the People’s Choice Award at the event.