Tom Kramer of Belpre speaks to Gene Butler, owner of the WV Polo Club, Saturday evening at the Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival in Bicentennial Park. Butler was showing Kramer the offerings his restaurant had, including gator ribs, pork loin ribs, beef ribs and more. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The community came out Saturday for an evening of food, beer and friendship Saturday at Bicentennial Park for the annual Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival highlighting locally-owned eateries.

The park was full of people as the community came to eat and drink, enjoy the company of friends and listen to live music.

Downtown PKB has held the annual downtown event for 10 years.

Marvin Edwards, President of Downtown PKB, said the event ran very smoothly with a really good turnout from the community.

“I think we have a very good vibe downtown,” he said of the events that are being held downtown including the Throwdown, the Taste of Parkersburg, Meet Me on Market and others.

The community came out Saturday night to Bicentennial Park in downtown Parkersburg for the annual Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival. The Taylor Sams Band and the Jake Binegar Band both performed during the event. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

“Downtown is starting to pick up and all the events have been growing,” Edwards added.

Executive Director of Downtown PKB Amanda Stevens estimated they had around 1,000 people by 7 p.m. with people expected to be streaming in throughout the evening. The goal was to have 2,000 people for the entire evening.

“People are still coming (at 7 p.m.) and I love it,” Edwards said.

Restaurants participating in this year’s Throwdown were The Blennerhassett Hotel, Hangry’s Food Truck & Catering, Jimmy Avocado’s, The Little Stirr, Pappy’s Lip Smackin BBQ, The Pizza Station on 3rd Street, Unity Mac Bar & Bistro and The West Virginia Polo Club. A variety of domestic and craft beers were available from participating distributors.

Jimmy Carrano, owner of Jimmy Avocado’s, said that people started off seeing what was available, having a drink and then started lining up for food around 6:30 p.m.

Aaron Clubb of Pappy’s Lip Smackin’ BBQ prepares pulled chicken on a grill Saturday evening for the annual Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival. The festival highlighted a number of local eateries. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

They were serving their food truck menu which was a cajun inspired menu which included Jambalaya tacos, surf-and-turf tacos, chicken boudin, Cajun-style Mexican Badia roast with street corn.

Carrano said they have a restaurant downtown and a food truck and they are making themselves known around the area.

“A lot of it is contributing to the community,” he said. “Hopefully, we will keep doing these and start doing bigger things in the city and see it grow.”

Josh Martin, owner of Unity Mac Bar & Bistro, has attended the Throwdown and the Taste of Parkersburg a number of times and has already participated in the Taste of Parkersburg. He wanted to be able to be a part of the Downtown Throwdown.

“We were really busy at the Taste of Parkersburg and it looks like it is going to be the same tonight,” he said Saturday evening.

Jimmy Carrano, owner of Jimmy Avocado’s, prepares food from their food truck menu that has a cajun and Mexican flare during the annual Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

Gene Butler, “proud” owner of the WV Polo Club, said they are back at the Throwdown for the third year in a row.

Butler wanted to offer something unique so he was serving gator ribs Saturday night in addition to fresh pork loin ribs, beef ribs and beef brisket.

“We smoked the brisket all night (Friday),” he said. “The beef ribs took about seven hours and the pork loin ribs took about three-and-a-half.

“We thought we would do alligator ribs, because no one does those and we wanted to do something different.”

Butler said it is the people that keep bringing him back. The WV Polo Club has been a part of the community for 35 years, he added.

Ethan Schaffer and Josh Martin of the Unity Mac Bar & Bistro prepared food Saturday night for the annual Downtown Throwdown Food & Beer Festival in Bicentennial Park in downtown Parkersburg. Organizers were hoping to have over 2,000 people for the event. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

“We are like a staple in the community,” he said, adding he knows just about everyone in the community. “There are a lot of good people around here.”

Many people came for the chance to get out and have a good time with family and friends.

Tiffanee Rice of Vienna said she enjoys the chance to get out with other adults where everyone can enjoy themselves.

“I love it when the community gets together and they put on live music,” she said. “It is a night to go out with my husband, leave the kids at home and have a fun time.”

Tom Kramer of Belpre said he usually comes down to all these kinds of events in the area with family as these events really bring people together.

“It is just Parkersburg,” he said. “We come to this and the Taste of Parkersburg. It is a community event that we just love doing. It is just a great experience.”