By PETER WARD, Sun Staff

LOWELL So what if Congress declared 2003 Year of the Blues?

Blues was dropped from the name of the city's adopted festival and beer added. Instead of Ribn' Blues, it's now Ribn' Brews.

"We didn't want to pin ourselves down to blues music only," Andy St. Onge, special events coordinator, said yesterday at a City Hall press conference.

(St. Onge didn't dismiss the possibility of a blues festival someday.)

Name change notwithstanding, there'll be no singing the blues this weekend.

The festival at Lucy Larcom Park off Merrimack Street on Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. will feature plenty of live music, a "Pigskins" tent for watching football and enough meat to make Atkins dieters happy. (Bring the carb blockers for the abundant supply of beer however.)

Admission is $5, children under 12 free.

Ribn' Brews was once Pig & Pepper until it grew so wildly popular it outgrew its Westford birthplace.

In Lowell, last year's two-day festival at Tsongas Arena attracted 17,000 despite poor weather. Officials want a better turnout this time around.

"When people come back, you know it was a great first year," said Mayor Rita Mercier.

City Manager John Cox said Lucy Larcom, the canal-side greenway, is "a better setting than last year."

Some 30 teams from New England will grill chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder, and beef brisket as they compete for the gold cup. They'll include last year's winner, Yahoos led by Lance Fuhrer.

Contestants must use charcoal or wood for fuel, not gas or electric.

Teams will be active all night on location as they slow-cook their fare.

The winners will be invited to national competitions in Kansas City and Lynchburg, Tenn.

Slow cooking and "spice-rubbing" are the keys to good barbecue even more so than the barbecue sauce, said Jim McGrath of Concord, president of the N.E. Barbecue Society, which has 200 members.

Sponsoring Ribn' Brews are The Sun, Budweiser and The Backyard Barbeque, a barbecue supply chain of stores with outlets in Framingham and Hyannis. Its president, Jonathan Magasanik, presented the New England Barbecue Society with a check for $2,500.

Chefs from Backyard Barbeque and New England Barbecue Society will teach cooking classes open to the public.

Six local micro-breweries Lowell's own Mill City Brewing Co., will be supplying 30 kinds of beer and ale as part of the competitive Microbrew Challenge. For a $15 ticket, you can be the judge. You'll receive a complimentary mug, 12 coupons for 12 four-ounce samplers and a ballot sheet to vote for your favorite beer or brewery.

Peter Ward's e-mail address is pward@lowellsun.com .

This article appeared on September 10, 2003 in the Lowell Sun.