It’s a free community party. It’s a concert with 18 bands. It’s a fundraiser that has collected more than $300,000 over three years to support various projects, including the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation and student scholarships.
But mostly, Port Moody RibFest is about the meat — salty, sticky, sweet and smokey.
Ian MacPhail, one of the organizers of the event that kicks off at Rocky Point Park Friday and runs through to Sunday evening, said for the next three days, the city’s waterfront park will be alive with the smells of barbecue sauce and — if the weather forecast for sunshine and hot temperatures holds true — sunscreen, not to mention beer from the nearby brewers on Murray Street.
It’s that simple combination of tasty food and good times that has made RibFest a highlight of Port Moody’s summer season in just three years and could attract as many as 50,000 people this weekend, MacPhail said.
Those numbers could get a boost from the new Shoreline Shuttle bus service that connects Rocky Point Park, Moody Centre and Inlet Centre, MacPhail said, just as last year’s event attracted new fans who arrived on SkyTrain. In fact, the free buses will run every 15 minutes during RibFest rather than the usual half-hour frequency, to make the service even more convenient and relieve parking pressures at the park.
Another feature to ease congestion that’s new this year is the VIP zone, where paid ticket holders can have their ribs and drinks delivered to them at their table near the entertainment stage.
It’s a great way to avoid the lineups that inevitably form at the five rib stands, MacPhail said.
Innovations like that come from collaboration and consultation with other Rotary clubs in the province that organize similar events, said MacPhail, one of three Port Moody Rotarians — including Alan Schmelzel and Al Stjernegaard — who spend the better part of the year putting together RibFest.
• For more information about RibFest, including a schedule of bands, profiles of the professional ribbers as well as information about the VIP zone, go to www.portmoodyribfest.ca. For information about the Shoreline shuttle bus service, including a schedule and map of stops, go to http://www.portmoody.ca/index.aspx?page=1646.
