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National Buffalo Wing Festival

Each Labor Day weekend sees Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo host the National Buffalo Wing Festival, two days dedicated to Buffalo's best-known addition to the annals of American cuisine. Inspired by the 2001 movie Osmosis Jones as well as a column by iconic Buffalo News editorialist Donn Esmonde, the National Buffalo Wing Festival has, since its inception, drawn nearly 600,000 hungry guests from all 50 states and 33 foreign countries to Buffalo, who have collectively eaten over 3 million chicken wings and raised over $200,000 for various local charities. Showcased by a long list of national media such as The Today Show, The View, Live with Regis and Kelly, numerous Food Network series, and even a PBS documentary, the National Buffalo Wing Festival sees over 30 restaurants in Buffalo and around the country — including the Anchor Bar, where chicken wings were first served in 1964 — serve up their individual recipes and compete for prizes.

Website: buffalowing.com (opens in a new tab)

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Buffalo/Downtown, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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