Ribbers getting set up for the festivities on Thursday afternoon (Photo: Curtis Galbraith)

By Shaun Penner

Rotary Rib Festival

First ever Rotary Rib Festival gets underway Friday

Jul 19, 2019 | 5:30 AM

The 2019 Rotary Rib Festival is set to get underway today.

Events kickoff down at the Montrose Cultural Centre at 11:30 this morning and go until 10 p.m. today and Saturday. Events go from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Dale Tiedemann is one of the organizers with the After Five Rotary Club. He says there will be a wide variety of flavours to choose from.

“This year, we’re really excited to be featuring four vendors from across the United States and we have one from Calgary coming in to compete in our rib competition” said Tiedemann. “As well, we have a couple of local food trucks and different food vendors for everyone to enjoy.”

Some of those vendors feature award winners, such as:

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• Blazin’ BBQ out of Calgary
• Pistol Pete’s Oklahoma Smokehouse from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Buckeye BBQ out of Columbus, Ohio

They’ll be competing to be the champion of the Rotary clubs first, of what the hope to be many, rib festival.

“People take their barbecue pretty seriously and people that are involved in the barbecue culture take this as a pretty serious competition,” said Tiedemann. “We have a judging panel that will be making a decision as to the ‘best of the fest’ coming up on Sunday afternoon. That’ll be announced around 3 p.m.”

Aside from the plethora of food, there is also a Crafters Marketplace featuring local crafters, a kid’s fun zone and beer gardens going on all weekend long.

Admission to the grounds is free of charge. Patrons would then pay all vendors directly for any food or beverage they wish to enjoy. Tiedemann says a cash machine will be on-site.

“We’re really excited to be hosting this event for the first time in Grande Prairie. It’s obviously been very successful with other Rotary clubs as a fundraiser throughout Canada and the United States. We’re excited to bring it to Grande Prairie for everyone to enjoy.”