After 15 years of bringing the community together with the promise of great food and live entertainment, the Minority Business Resource Network of Southeastern Ohio has announced the cancellation of this year’s Solid Gold Ribfest.

Due to a lack of sponsorship for the annual event, the Minority Business Resource Network’s board was forced to cancel the annual Ribfest.

“It’s a tremendous event, really good organization you know, hate to let it go. But financially, we’re not going to be able to do it this year,” Ernie Bynum, Director of Economics for the Minority Business Resource Network, said.

While the organization did not intend to cancel the event, Bynum said it was purely a financial decision.

“I mean, you love to put it on and you love the community coming together, but it just really makes it hard to continue to do it year after year and not raise the funds to support your organization,” Bynum said.

The intent of the Ribfest was two-fold. Initially, the organization saw a need for a community event that could attract community members across the board and bring people together.

“The community needed an event which would draw all segments of the community together, you know, all backgrounds, all ages, and we accomplished that,” Bynum said.

Secondly, a portion of the profits were designated to scholarships to assist local high school graduates pursuing higher education.

“The purpose of it was to raise funds for scholarships, especially (for) those children that may need scholarships for books or things just to help them, let them know that people were out here (to) help them moving forward,” Bynum said.

With the cancellation of this year’s event, Bynum said it’ll be up to the community if the Ribfest returns to Muskingum County in the future.

The board for the Minority Business Resource Networks thanked the community for its support over the past 15 years and expressed gratitude to all community members and sponsors who participated in the event in previous years.

“It’s been a great thing for … memories, it’s just a good thing we won’t be able to do this year,” Bynum said.