Smoke and mouth-watering savory scents will drift through Veterans Park in Oberlin on Saturday as competitors gather for the 4th annual Rib Fest.

The Rib Fest will be held 11 – until at its new location at Veterans Park, located just off U.S. 165 in Oberlin.

There is no admission fee to enter the cook-off or the event.

“We have been fortunate to have sponsors to cover the costs for us,” Mayor Larry Alexander said.

The family-friendly event will offer Allen Parish residents some of the best baby back ribs, music, food and fun as teams from throughout the state gather to battle it out for bragging rights to see whose ribs have what it takes to be deemed the best.

“This is a great event to bring people into our community and get our community involved,” Alexander said. “It’s also a chance for us to show off our community and give people an opportunity to come out, have a good time and be a part of a fun family-friendly event.”

Attendees are urged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.

“We look forward to everyone having a good time and having a good turnout,” he said.

The cook-off will begin at noon with judging at 5 p.m.

A panel of judges will determine the three tastiest recipes based on appearance, tenderness, texture and taste. Monetary prizes and a commemorative paddle will be presented to first, second and third place teams.

A commemorative paddle will also be presented to the team with the best team name.

Winners will be announced before 7 p.m.

“We’re looking to have a good turnout,”Alexander said. “We’ve had a lot of people calling from Texas, Lafayette and New Orleans wanting to come.”

Aside from ribs, there will be live music, food trucks, vendors selling knives, seasonings and other cooking-related items and children’s activities.

Festival goers can also enjoy a wide variety of food trucks offering hamburgers, Asian food, sweets, lemonade and more.

As for musical talent, the event will highlight local musicians playing a variety of music from Cajun, country and zydeco.

Seth Pitre and the Zydeco Pressure will take the stage at 11 a.m., follow by Tyler Joseph at noon and

Paul Courville and the Cajun Cousins  at 1:30 p.m. Alphonse Ardoin and the Zydeco Kings will perform at 3 p.m. followed by the Whiskey-Chitto Ramblers at 5 p.m. with Parish Line closing out the evening at 7 p.m.

The festival is also child-friendly with activities for all ages, including an obstacle course, bounce house, face painting, train rides, sack races, petting zoo and more.

A corn hole tournament will also be held at 3 p.m. Registration is $20 for two-man teams. Registration will be held noon – 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Oberlin Town Hall at 337-639-4333 or 337-998-9815.