Barrie's 10th Annual Ribfest

Last Thursday was the first day of Barrie's 10th Annual Ribfest.  The much-anticipated  festival consists of several rib teams, from Ontario and USA  who cook their best ribs, pulled pork and chicken for lucky festival-goers.  There were teams from as far as Florida, Texas, and New Mexico!  Rib teams compete with each other to see who wins "best ribs" and "best pulled pork" at the show.  The festival ran from Thursday, July 7 to Sunday, July 10 at Memorial Square in downtown Barrie.  I, of course, visited the festival on day one.  It is something we, as a family, look forward to every summer, since moving to this wonderful city.  I must warn you that these pictures were taken on the first day of the festival, therefore, you don't see very many people.  When I went back a second time on Saturday evening, it was very crowded, with the only seating being the grass!  The festival is getting bigger and bigger each year! 

Rib teams from left to right- Hawg's Gone Wild, Gator BBQ, Camp 31, and Silver Bullet

Rib teams from left to right - Uncle Sam's BBQ, Crabby's BBQ, and Bibb's BBQ

There were 7 rib teams showcasing their best ribs, pulled pork, and BBQ chicken.  This was my 3rd time to Barrie's Ribfest.  Last year, we tried Camp 31 from Alabama. The ribs were delicious, but this year we wanted to try something new, so we went to Crabby's BBQ, a team from Ontario, Canada. 

Here, on display, are the trophies won by Crabby's BBQ! 

Here, you can see one of the team members basting a rack of ribs with their famous sauce.

Mmm!  I wish you could smell the smoky, BBQ goodness in the air! 

Ribs weren't the only yummy thing to eat, there were also vendors selling roasted corn, bloomin onions, butterfly fries and freshly squeezed lemonade!  Live bands also played throughout the weekend!  The weather couldn't be any more perfect, maybe a little too hot! 

We brought our rib dinner across the street to Centennial Park and sat in this large gazebo.  We spread out our blanket on the table and had a picnic by the bay.  It was great, because we had a room with a view and we could also hear the live band playing from here.  It was perfect!

These are called butterfly fries - very crispy and highly addictive! 

The ribs were fall-off-the-bone delicious and the pulled pork was so moist and juicy!  We all agreed that we liked Crabby's pulled pork even better than the ribs, but they were both delicious! 


I would like to share with you some pictures of  Barrie's Centennial Park, overlooking Kempenfelt Bay...

 

The gazebo where we ate our dinner.

I hope you enjoyed reading today's post.  We had a wonderful time at the Ribfest and can't wait to do it all over again, next year!  Unfortunately, I still don't know who won, as I wasn't at the festival yesterday.  I should find out soon, as I'm sure it will be announced in tomorrow's newspaper.  Have a great day and thank you for stopping in! xo