It's not so much that I'm a big fan of phpBB, all the big forums mentioned are too much bloat for my liking. The only reason I'm going to use phpBB is because it's free and there's more mods available than other forums script. In particular I integrated an events calendar mod for phpBB which allows users to advertise upcoming events available in their community, such as shows, concerts, fairs, etc.
Also one other reason I chose phpBB, it's the only forums script I know of that you can legally remove the powered by link.