The taste of summer has come to Greenfield Park, as five professional ribbers compete for the best ribs crown at the first annual Ribfest South Shore.
People attending the event can vote not only for their favourite ribs, but also favorite chicken, favorite sauces and more.
For Gus Sakellis, owner and co-founder of Nevada-based Ribs Royale, it’s about creating an experience.
“The purpose of this event is to have a nostalgic feel where we show up once a year to serve southern comfort food,” he said explaining that the art of barbecuing involves taking the cheapest, or toughest cut of meat and making it as tender as possible.
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Sakellis wouldn’t give away too many trade secrets, but did admit that specialized equipment does come in to play.
“So we have equipment on board that’s hard to find anywhere else. We have Southern Pride smokers that come from the Deep South,” he said.
He also let on that maybe the secret is in the sauce.
“Obviously we all have our different techniques with our sauces and stuff,” Sakellis told Global News.
And while tantalizing smells may be wafting through the air, this weekend’s event is about more than just food, it’s about giving back.
Ribfest teamed up with All for the Children Foundation, a local organization that helps out those in need in the community.
“What we do is we provide the entertainment. We have a kid zone, we have awesome musicians, all day tonight and tomorrow,” said Angela Howarth, All for the Children Foundation’s secretary.
“All of the proceeds are going back to our foundation,” she said explaining that the ribbers pay the foundation to host the event. “What they make, they make because they have paid us very generously to be here.”
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One of the foundation’s initiatives involves creating “magical envelopes” for eight local schools.
“We give schools an envelope with a certain amount of money and we tell the schools you can use this for whatever you may need,” Howarth said.
“So if you see a child that needs winter snow pants, or mittens or something like that, they can use that money. If there’s a child that can’t go on an outing because their parents can’t afford it, they can use that money.”
The foundation also jumps in wherever it sees a need.
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“There was a big fire on the south shore not too long ago,” Howarth said. “So, we help families there.”
All for the Children also organizes an annual Santa Claus parade that has become a big hit with the kids.
“Every year we put on a Santa Clause parade and every child gets to see Santa Claus and gets to leave with a very nice gift,” Howarth said. “Last year we had over 750 children come.”
Ribfest runs all weekend long and access to the site is free.
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