BUFFALO, N.Y. —  The National Buffalo Wing Fest is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, bringing restaurants and visitors from both near and far to Highmark Stadium in celebration of all things wings. After a long year of recovering from the pandemic, restaurants and guests agree it feels good to be back.

“It’s so nice, we missed it so much last year," said Jessica Kranz from the Anchor Bar. "It’s amazing to see everyone back here, eating chicken wings and having blue cheese. It’s awesome.”

What You Need To Know

  • The National Buffalo Wing Fest returned for its 20th year on Labor Day Weekend

  • For the first time, the fest is being held at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park

  • Over 20 restaurants from across the nation are participating this year

  • The fest also features live music and competitions

The fest has every necessity to go with wings, including refreshments, fries from Chercker's and Marie's blue cheese.

Out of the 21 featured restaurants, there were plenty of regional favorites, like Windjammers Bar and Grill from Rochester and, of course, Buffalo’s own Anchor Bar, but there were also quite a few out-of-towners. Wing’s Army, for example, has been coming all the way from Guadalajara, Mexico to Wing Fest since 2017, and they’ve taken home trophies each year.

“We’re very thankful for the Buffalo guys that we came here and they love us," said William Osuna of Wing's Army.

In terms of flavors, guests can expect to find staples like barbecue, garlic parm, and Buffalo, but some places have worked hard to create extensive menus with unique flavors, like Enola, Pennsylvania’s Center Street Grille, home of one of this year’s most unique and spiciest offerings: the Hellfernutter wing.

“I play around a lot back at the restaurant," said Matthew Mager of Center Street Grille. "We just toss around some ideas. We like to try to get into extreme flavors every now and then, extreme heat, and then we get down to sweet flavors like the peanut butter and jelly. The dill pickle dust, we threw together for people who are big fans of the artisan pickle movement right now.”

There’s more than food, too. The fest’s new home allows visitors to have some fun on the field, with live music and competitions, as well as a place to pick up some Wing Fest swag. While the venue may be different, the experience is the same, and uniquely Western New York.

"All the people here are pretty exciting; super kind," said first time Wing Fest attendee Robin Mangat. "Everybody gives you that Buffalo warm welcome, so anybody from out of town, who’s not from here should definitely come out here every year just to get a good warm welcome from Buffalo.”

In addition to good food, the fest also supports good causes. This year, procees will help support FeedMore WNY and Alzheimer's Association of WNY.