Rocky Point Park was a heady mix of live music, cold brews and sticky rib fingers — and thousands upon thousands of them — at the inaugural RibFest over the weekend.
Ian MacPhail of the Rotary Club of Port Moody estimated that, despite the rain, there was a whopping 40,000 hungry visitors to the three-day event, well over the 30,000 they'd been expecting. Cooking up a storm were: Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ, Boss Hog's, Misty Mountain, Gator BBQ and Smoke & Bones.
In the end, Boss Hog's won the People's Choice award while Misty Mountain had the Best Ribs prize. The Best Sauce accolate went to Gator BBQ.
"It was a fantastic weekend, it couldn't have been better," MacPhail said, noting the partnership with the city of Port Moody was key to the event's success. "It really was packed, so it was almost a blessing in disguise to have a bit of rain."
The festivities ran from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, featuring a rotating roster of live music throughout each day, as well as a family fun zone and two beverage gardens. RibFest attendees looking for a delicious dinner outdoors likely noticed the numbers swelled from about 3 to 6 p.m., with little downturn on the final day.
"In terms of the crowd it was pretty solid all the way through," MacPhail said, with no issues that required police response.
And while organizers are basking in the success of the event MacPhail said they won't know for some time how much money was raised from the 50/50 draw, Rib Runner service and the corn and beer sales.
They're also keen to improve on the event for a hoped-for RibFest 2016, particularly in keeping the beer, food and washroom line-ups moving quickly and in finding an efficient — and effective — way to keep garbage, recyclables and organics properly sorted. (Separate organics bins were not provided because the cost to dispose of food waste contaminated by garbage would be prohibitive.)
Devin Jain, PoMo's manager of cultural services, said the city does not have an official policy when it comes to using recyclable containers at the park but staff work with event organizers behind the scenes to divert as much waste as possible into the appropriate streams. At RibFest, there was good success with recycling plastic cups from the beer garden and cardboard packaging from product delivery, and all corn husks were sent to the organics waste stream.
"We think we can do much much better for next year," MacPhail said, though whether the event returns is up to council. "If we go by the comments of patrons on social media, it was an unqualified success."
MacPhail also praised the work of the more than 200 volunteers who helped throughout the weekend.
"They really stepped up, they were really outstanding," he said. "And I have to include Mayor [Mike] Clay — he was the only volunteer who was also judging, served beer, sold 50/50 tickets, cleaned tables — he did absolutely every job and to have the mayor doing that says something about the success of the event."
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