Hot Nite and Ribfest take over downtown Kamloops this weekend

“We started this morning with moving equipment onto the site at about 6:30 a.m.,” said Bryce Herman, spokesperson for Ribfest. “I was here about 6:45 and there were a number of pieces already in the park, some tents already up.”

Six professional ribbers will serve thousands between Friday and Sunday.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

If ribs aren’t your thing, there will be plenty of other entertainment.

“We’ve added a few things this year,” Herman said, “the Sunday is going to be expanded a little bit with a bigger Show and Shine in the morning, which is a bit of a spillover from Hot Nite on Saturday, and of course they’re celebrating 25 years, so a big anniversary for them. We’re really excited about being a part of that. We’ve got a Show and Shine event that will go on the next morning, it will be tied into what we call ‘Machine Mayhem.'”

Around 60,000 people come through Riverside Park each year during Ribfest and organizers expect no fewer this year as long as the weather holds up.

Ribfest begins at 11:00 a.m. Friday. In the afternoon, Hot Nite in the City begins.

“Tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m., the Poker Run starts at the Plaza Hotel, and that will wind up around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. for the Truck Lights Show,” said Ron Popove, show chairman for Hot Nite in the City. “Saturday, we start moving in at 7:00 in the morning, by 9:00 we have a full blown car show.”

In its 25th year, there will be more cars than ever lining 13 city blocks of Downtown Kamloops.

“Our pre-entry when I left the house was 408, and notoriously we will get probably another 100 tomorrow and Saturday,” Popove said.

Organizers expect thousands to wander through the car show.

“Cars are the biggest industry in North America or the world,” Popove said. “Everybody has a car and people are interested in them, what we do to our cars, it’s just a good hobby and people enjoy them.”

by Jill Sperling

Hot Nite and Ribfest take over downtown Kamloops this weekend

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