Ribfest returns to Orillia
A favourite seasonal food has returned to the Sunshine City.
Orillia's annual Ribfest kicked off on Friday at Tudhope Park. This year 17 trailers featuring four different vendors are available for residents to choose from.
"It's just a real simple day out," said Mark Wilson of Northern Heat Rib Series, the organizer of Ribfest. "This is what I really love about it, and we come to a lot of cities, and I love it when these families come out, and you see kids running around, playing games, getting their face painted, having funnel cakes and eating ribs. It's just a great, simple family thing to do."
Northern Heat Rib Series holds 18 Ribfests throughout southern Ontario. Orillia is their fourth stop of the year, setting up in Orillia on June 9 after last visiting Windsor.
All vendors start with the same ribs but compete for both people's choice awards and judge's choice awards each weekend based on how they prepare their ribs. While they all start the same, how each vendor smokes them, rubs them and finishes them makes all the difference.
"They all put so much love and attention into submitting their judge's ribs, and when we announce them on Sundays, they are nervous," said Wilson. "We've seen people as they hand over their judging ribs; they bless their box to make sure they get that little bit of extra help. It's a serious business to them."
They hope to match last year's turnout, which saw 18,000 people show up.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.