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Orangeville Rotary Ribfest brings out over 22,000 attendees

July 27, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The 14th Annual Orangeville Rotary Ribfest, held July 14 to 16, saw over 22,000 attendees take part in the three-day event at the Alder Street Recreation Centre grounds.

Over 160 volunteers made the event possible to bring various delicious food to the community and fundraise for charitable initiatives.

The volunteers kept everything running smoothly, doing everything from greeting patrons, serving beer, pop and water, and, with help from the Orangeville Headwaters Minor Baseball Association and Dufferin Waste Services, cleaning tables and managing the waste & recycling stations.  

“The Rotary Club of Orangeville would like to extend a huge thank-you to each and every volunteer who helped us out this year. We simply could not put on an event like Ribfest without your help,” said the Rotary Club of Orangeville in a press release.

The rib-judging contest at this year’s Ribfest took place on Saturday (July 15) afternoon when six judges sampled ribs and sauce from each of the event’s six ribbers.  

Winning ribbers this year were Brickyard BBQ for Judges’ Choice Best Ribs, Silver Bullet for Judges’ Choice Best Sauce and Billy Bones for the People’s Choice Award.

Because of the rainy Saturday weather during the event, the Ribfest Classic Auto Show was much smaller than usual, and the Camp Fire Poets finished their last set about 20 minutes early. But on Sunday, the weather was back in the Rotary Club’s favour, and the performers on the big stage and Kidsfest brought in over 8,000 happy patrons. 

The club won’t know for a few weeks what the final number will be for funds raised, but, as in previous years, all funds will go towards projects in the Orangeville/Dufferin community, including some funds being put aside for the redevelopment of Rotary Park.

Also, after closing on Sunday, all leftover pop and water were donated to the Choices Youth Shelter.

“Thank-you to our many volunteers, our fabulous bands and performers, our sponsors, our ribbers and all the Ribfest vendors, and to you, the citizens of Orangeville, Dufferin County and beyond, for helping to make the 14th annual Rotary Ribfest such a success,” said the Rotary Club of Orangeville in a press release.

Next year’s Ribfest will take place July 19, 20 and 21. 

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