Elgin Park in Uxbridge played host to the 3rd Annual Royal Canadian Ribfest this past week-end July 16th-18th.
Uxbridge is a township that has a population of around 20,000 people located 40 km Northeast of Toronto.
This year the event had five Ribbers as the main attraction, and attract they did. This years teams included The Gator BBQ Company that features Original Deep South Barbecue, along with the team from Tennessee Fatbacks which has a Memphis Style Barbecue, Bad Wolf Barbecue that has a Kansas City flair.
There were also two teams with a Canadian content to them. The Crazy Canuck Smoker Team with 15 years of Ribbing notched in their belts and a newcomer Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ specializing in Georgia style that has been taking the Ribfest circuit by storm in only their second year on the tour. The Horn Dawgs are a husband and wife team from Oshawa.
In 2009 14,000 visitors attended the show and with the nice weather that was enjoyed this year that total would of been surpassed. There was also many other food groups represented in the park including corn on the cob, baked potatoes, funnel cakes and ice cream, and for a healthy choice you could of built your own salad. As far as beverages there was water, lemonade, sodas along with beer and wine for the adults.
For the kids there was a midway with games, rides and slides. For the artistic flair there were face painters, animal balloon makers and a great caricature artist named James Gain.
Entertainment was provided by a number of bands that performed in the bandshell.
The weather was fantastic and Elgin Park is a wonderful place to hold the event since all of the mature trees supplied plenty of shade for those that did not want to get too much sun.
Parking and admittance to the park was free though visitors could donate to the Legion directly or by purchasing tickets for a 50-50 draw.
There were plenty of families that enjoyed the atmosphere along with couples, young and old.
Sunday, a classic car show shared the park and many visitors dropped by to view the old cars from the 1930s through the 1980s
The big attraction though are the Ribbers that sold BBQ Ribs, Chicken and pulled Pork. A full rack of Ribs were $22.00 or you could get a half rack for $13.00, A combination plate of ribs and a second meat with sides of coleslaw and beans was an affordable $17.00. Ribbers also sold their own bottled BBQ sauces for $6.00 a jar.
At the end of the last day trophies were handed out and the winners were....
Best Sauce - Bad Wolf Barbecue
Best Chicken - Crazy Canuck
Best Combo - Gator BBQ
Best Ribs - Horn Dawgs
People's Choice - Tennessee Fatbacks
If you have never been to a Ribfest before this is an event that is fun for the whole family. The Southern Ontario area has a dozen or so Ribfests every summer, do a search to find a Ribfest in your area.
The next Ribfest in the Toronto area is Scarborough Rotary RibFest 2010 July 30 - August 2 at
Thomson Memorial Park
(Corner of Lawrence Ave. & Brimley Rd.) you can get more information here
http://http://scarboroughribfest.com/index.htm
Comments
Awesome article!!!!!
Wow this sounds like it was so much fun, I wish they had things like that around here where I live.
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