KAMLOOPS — The smell of ribs will be wafting over Riverside Park starting Friday.
Organizers began setting up on Tuesday for the 5th annual Ribfest that brings meat and music lovers to the park.
People can get their fill of ribs, or a vegetarian dish, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. all weekend long.
Six professional ribbers will set up shop while hungry festival goers enjoy live entertainment on the main stage.
Ribfest spokesman and entertainment director Bryce Herman says there will also be plenty of action on the water.
“There will also on Saturday be a full day of dragon boat races going on as well, there’s bleachers down in that area as well,” Herman said. “I encourage people to come on down. There’s 32 teams that are going to be here, 650 athletes that will be participating in that alone, so just that small piece. So when you start adding all the components together we’re certainly expecting a large crowd.”
The event attracts thousands of people to Riverside Park every year and Herman expects it to continue to build momentum.
“We estimated last year that we had about 60,000 people through the event over the course of the three days,” Herman said. “We’re anticipating exactly the same kind of a thing and possibly bigger, so we’re pretty excited and there’s a lot of feet on the ground right now making this all come together, but it’s a pretty exciting day.”
All money raised at the event will be given to youth and seniors programs in the Kamloops area.
