The 2024 Orangeville Rotary Ribfest: Ribs, Music and Community Spirit | Written By Lindsay W.
Two Ribbers working at Gator BBQ
This past weekend marked the 15th annual Orangeville Rotary Ribfest, held at Alder Recitational Centre with free entry and donations appreciated. The venue buzzed with mouthwatering ribs, food vendors, beer, live entertainment and fun activities for the whole family.
Starting Friday and continuing all weekend long, attendees browsed a variety of local vendors and indulged sweet or savory snacks from food sellers. On the main stage, emcee Pete Weinzettl ,aka DJ Swankenstein, hosted live performances from musicians such as Dufferin County Line, The Campfire Poets, Jessica Sole, Larry Kurtz and many more. After dancing away, many could grab a cold drink either at the token run beer tent or the pop and water station.
This year there were six Ribbers attendees could choose from, including Brickyard BBQ, Billy Bones BBQ, Gator BBQ, Bubba Lou’s Bar-B-Q, Fatboys Southern Smokehouse and Jack the Ribber, each place competing to win the awards of the weekend. When asking individuals how their Ribfest was going, one remarked, “We look forward to it every year!”, another exclaiming, “The weather is perfect, and the music is fantastic.”
Beyond ribs and music, Saturday featured the Classic Car Show with a wide range of clean classic and custom cars. While on Sunday, KIDFEST offered kid-friendly entertainment, activities and attractions with help from local businesses, providing fun for the whole family.
Every year the Rotary club uses the proceeds from Ribfest to support community projects. This year, fundraising will be used for the new play area featured in the Rotary Park Conceptual plan, aiming to update the beloved park. When speaking to Ingrid Sproxton, co-chair of Orangeville Rotary Club, she discusses the aspirations to meet their fundraising goal, but “If we go over our goal, we hope to contribute to other parts of the plan as well.” Ingrid shares her favourite part of Ribfest is “actually, getting there and enjoying RibFest after working on it for months.”
After a very busy start to the weekend, excitement over this event is not lost on its organizers. The other co-chair Charles McCabe, mentions what he looks forward to most about Ribfest, “After planning on a piece of paper for 10 months, I enjoy physically getting on the field to draw out the lines.” During this year’s planning the focus was on “working with the younger generation who will continue on with RibFest” says Charles, emphasizing the growth of the annual festival as the community evolves.