This weekend Buffalo will celebrate one of its tastiest traditions: the chicken wing. Dunn Tire Park will play home to the fourth annual Buffalo Wing Festival as tens of thousands gather downtown to enjoy one of the most delicious junk foods ever created.
Not only will patrons be able to taste wings from countless vendors, but a number of activities are scheduled over the course of the weekend.
On Friday, Danny and Melinda from MTV's "Real World: Austin" will be celebrity guests while Strictly Hip, a Tragically Hip tribute band, play live music. Rick Jeanerette, famed voice of the Buffalo Sabres, will be narrating the citywide Chicken Wing Eating Championship before fireworks light up the sky over the ballpark.
This year happens to be a special milestone for the Buffalo wing, too. The one-millionth Buffalo Wing Festival chicken wing will be served at the festival.
Saturday will have the second of three eating festivals, the United States Chicken Wing Eating Championship. Sonya Thomas, last year's winner, will return to defend her title; on Sunday the Buffalo Buffet Bowl will feature local favorites like Sahlen's hot dogs, beef on weck, and pierogies.
The festival typically generates a boost in revenue for the city, as thousands of visitors swarm to the Western New York region.
"One of the best things about this festival is the amount of out-of-town visitors we get that come just for the festival. They stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, if they aren't full from the wings, and just spend money. It's a ripple effect," said Nancy Vargo, communications manager for the festival.
Tourists won't be the only ones flocking in to take part in the merriment. Restaurants from all over the nation will be competing for the top spot in categories like "Best Spicy Creative Wing," "Best Extra-Hot Buffalo Wing," and "Rookie of the Year," among others.
Imperial Pizza, located in Buffalo and Cheektowaga, is one of the winners from last year's festival and will be participating this year as well.
"We won the title of Best BBQ Wings last year, and this year we'd just like to defend our title," said Ryan Sullivan, a manager at Imperial Pizza. "Our sauce is better than anyone else's, and (the festival) is something that's helped out our business a lot."
Vargo also mentioned that The Food Network will be taping all day Saturday for a future edition of their show, "Unwrapped," a program that investigates the backgrounds of some of America's favorite foods. In addition to the taping, a ceremony will take place to contribute a $5,000 check to the American Red Cross for the relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"The festival is getting so big and so popular that keeping everything coordinated has been challenging, but the national publicity that this festival has brought has put Buffalo in a really positive light," said Drew Cerza, founder of the Buffalo Wing Festival and food promotion specialist.
According to the festival's website, the idea for the celebration began with a scene from the movie "Osmosis Jones" in which the main character, a junk-food addict, travels to Buffalo for a chicken wing festival. Cerza noticed that strangely, no such event existed, and decided to take on the job of starting a tradition.
Although this weekend will be only the fourth annual Buffalo Wing Festival, it has grown over its short lifespan to feed nearly 400,000 chicken wings to 70,000 people. Other events in the schedule include a 0.5 K chicken wing run, an event called the Blue Cheese Bowl in which participants bob for chicken wings in a tub full of blue cheese and the crowning of Miss Buffalo Wing.
"The festival creates a source of pride because it's just another thing that makes Buffalo a fun place to live and visit," Vargo said.
The Buffalo Wing Festival will take place in Dunn Tire Park on Friday from 4 to 10 p.m., on Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
