Ribfest returns to Riverside Park this weekend

KAMLOOPS – Riverside Park will be filled with meat, music, cars and dragons this weekend as several different events take over downtown.

Rotary Ribfest, which runs from Aug. 7 to 9, features six ribbers, or rib trucks, from across Canada with appetizing and amusing names like 'Smoke and Bones' and 'Boss Hog.'

Not just an excuse to pig-out on barbeque, Ribfest is a competition judged by local community members. The ribbers will compete for four prizes including first and second prizes all-around, best sauce and people’s choice. Everyone attending Ribfest will be given a ballot and encouraged to vote for their favourite.

The event goes from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day and features a jam-packed main stage. All three evenings will feature live tribute bands, including a Pat Benator and Heart dual performance Friday night.

A weekend for the whole family, the event includes six inflatables and numerous games and activities just for kids, like face painting, clowns and mascots and even a medieval fighting display.

Ribfest runs in conjunction with the Dragon Boat Festival and Hot Nite in the City. The boat festival happens Saturday, Aug. 8, at 9 a.m. on the Thompson River starting at the park.

Running the same days as Ribfest, Aug. 7 to 9, 13 blocks of downtown Kamloops will be closed down to host a collection of custom and classic cars on display during Hot Nite in the City. 

To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

Dana Reynolds

Dana Reynolds is originally from Saskatchewan, but previous to Kamloops lived in Toronto for five years. She is well educated, obtaining her Masters of Arts from York University and Certificate of Broadcast Journalism from Seneca College. Dana has a passion for travel, having worked and studied in three foreign countries. She is a political junkie, especially as pertains the Middle East as she wrote her thesis on Muslim immigration into Europe. Dana is very excited to be in Kamloops and embark on a career in journalism with Info News.

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