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| - One of many Ribfests around the GTA. This one's at the Markham Civic Centre and occurs once a year. This review will only reflect when I go - that is, early in the morning.
In case you haven't been to one, Ribfest is a bit of a festival in which companies who sell ribs, set up a stand and sell them to you! It's pretty simple. There's usually some other stands including ones for lemonade, drinks, corn on the cob and desserts (including beaver tail). I love starting off with a corn cob before going to ribs. I usually go with my family so we split up and get someone to buy a set of ribs at each stand. If memory serves, they're usually around $22 for a full rack of ribs at any given stand (there's no admission fee).
The ribs themselves are always awesome and it's fun to taste some from every stand. They always have varying degrees of tastiness in the sauce and the meat itself. Lines tend to be long once lunch time hits so I'd recommend going as early as possible to avoid long lines and if you want a close parking spot (the surrounding business let you use their parking lots, which is really nice). If memory serves, Kansas City tend to have the best ribs. I think I've gone to the Rib Fest for four years in a row now and this passed year, they had a smaller turnout. They used to have 6 or 7 stands but they only had 4 this year. Hopefully that downward trend doesn't keep going. That being said, the low turnout could be because of the terrible weather we had so who knows.
The event in general is pretty well run. I can't speak for the afternoon or night, but the grounds are always pretty clean and there's usually volunteers hovering around the tables asking if you'd like more napkins (which is necessary sometimes). There's also plenty of tables set up around the area but since I'm never there at the busiest of times, I'm not sure how full it gets. If the weather calls for rain, be warned that there's only so many tents so you may be stuck taking the ribs home or eating in the rain. Obviously this event is best enjoyed in the sun!
All in all, I can't really complain about the event. If you like pork ribs, I'd recommend going, for sure. Take some friends and/or family too! In order to avoid long lines, I'd recommend going as early as possible.
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