Ribfest (in Photos): Crowds Swarm Lincoln Ave to Sample Savory, Sweet

The countdown on the official Ribfest page started over late Sunday, declaring there are 361 days until the next festival.

So if you weren't among the thousands who flooded Lincoln Avenue over the weekend, you'll just have to wait until next year.

The annual event boasted 13 different rib samplers and around 50,000 pounds of barbecue.

It also featured Ribfest "RibMania," the Midwest’s largest professional eating competition, and one of only three sanctioned rib-eating events in the country.

In an impressive showing, No. 7-ranked Miki Sudo narrowly edged out a victory by devouring 2.9 pounds of St. Louis style spare ribs in six minutes to capture the coveted 2013 trophy and $2,000 cash prize, coordinators said. 

The crowd cheered on their favorites, but it was Sudo who put away the most pork as determined by judges Sam Barclay and Matthew Raible of Major League Eating. 

The No. 1 ranked professional eater in the world, Joey Chestnut, led the field of the nation’s top competitors—No. 5 ranked Bob “Notorious B.O.B” Shoudt and No. 11's Erik Denmark, to name a couple—on a quest to conquer RibMania and pocket the top prize of $4,000.

Aside from eating, attendees danced, drank and mingled with business owners. A family-friendly area included face painting, a bouncy house, a slide and kids' performers.

Check out the accompanying photos (and Ribmania eating contest video) for a glimpse of the action. Be sure to like North Center-Roscoe Village Patch on Facebook to see the full gallery.