How to Ribfest? Kamloops Rotary Ribfest Turns 10

The Kamloops Daybreak Rotary host arguably one of the largest ribfest festivals in the country… and this year, 2023, the Kamloops Ribfest turns 10. Sort of…

The ribfest was started 12 years ago and there have been 10 face-to-face, in-person, live festivals in Riverside Park in Kamloops. Of course, through the Covid pandemic many events were virtual or simply not held. In this instance how do you eat ribs virtually? It’s much better in the park and in your hands!

How To Ribfest…

BBQ Brian met up with Adam Donnelly of CFJC Kamloops and shared some tips on camera on ‘how to ribfest’. You might think it’s straight forward to go to a big event and just go get something to eat. Well, for the die-hard ribfest fans, there’s more to it.

At most, not necessarily all, ribfests the rib teams, or ribbers, have multiple entries that they can enter into the contest. At the Kamloops Ribfest the six rib teams enter for the judged entries both BBQ sauce and of course their ribs. It depends on the event hosts what the entries will be and who will be the judges. Sometimes they are knowledgeable and skilled judges while at many events it is sponsors or media that get the call to eat, taste and write down their ratings.

The fun part or the key to getting the most of your ribfest experience though is getting a few ribs from different kitchens. Then YOU get to taste and add your opinion as to who has the best tasting ribs at the ribfest. This is called the People’s Choice award at the contest. Voting is the important part… the ribbers need to hear from their eaters! It’s not necessarily who has the longest line up or who has the loudest crew interacting with the patrons… the ribs do taste different. But it’s up the the public to vote.

In Adam Donnelly’s article he shares a quote from BBQ Brian of House of Q:

So yes, it does take a bit of planning on how to ribfest. Adam recorded a video while visiting the park and shares input from some eaters and a couple of pitmasters. Here is a link to the article and video from CFJC.

There Were Awards too…

So what happened this year at the 10th (12th?) annual Daybreak Rotary Ribfest?

House of Q entered our ribs, BBQ Sauce, petitioned the patrons for People’s Choice and a new award for Sustainability. Although we received perfect scores from 3 judges for our sauce, which was Five Star BBQ Sauce by the way, we did not win top prize. House of Q did get an award this year and it was for the Sustainability Award. This is truly special since the festival is making every effort to make sure the volume of garbage, food waste and impact is minimized. To help with that, they have each team or kitchen sort their organic food waste, their paper recycling, plastic recycling and then landfill into different containers. On top of that, they rated their kitchens for cleanliness… and proudly, House of Q received the award for 2023. Yay!

Thanks to the crew for all the effort standing at a garbage can and making the important decision on which bag to put the thing that’s in your hands. We got it right.

By the same token, thank you Kamloops for eating our ribs, waiting in line to get your food and bringing home a stash of BBQ sauce and rubs to make tasty food for your friends and family. We will see you next year!