Downtown Kitchener Ribfest & Craft Beer Show | July 20-22, 2012

[Urbanomicon]

I'm looking forward to this. I went last year and the ribs were phenominal. The only downside was the lack of available seating, you pretty much had to eat standing up.

[Shawn]

I've missed this the last 3 years!! I seem to always get the weekends confused! Last year I spent the whole week, Monday to Friday, looking forward to Ribfest only to get to Saturday to discover I missed it by one week!! I'm marking this in my personal calendar right now!!

[UrbanWaterloo]

Saturday July 18, 2009






















Sunday July 19, 2009

[Urbanomicon]

A few photos from Ribfest 2009.

[Spokes]

Im in the same boat as Shawn, I always seem to be out of town. This weekend, I'll be there. You all heard it!

And I've heard the same thing about the lack of seating. Too bad they cant borrow picnic tables from somewhere, or something to that effect.

[UrbanWaterloo]

The trick is to go in a minimum group of three. Have one person go on a table hunt, one stand in the beer token line (30 min - make sure you buy the maximum 20 tokens) and one in the food line (a good 30 minutes as well). My favourite was the scalloped potatoes - soooo good while drinking beer! Speaking of which, the most popular beer sample appeared to be "Green Apple" in 2009.

[Greg Moore]

Let's hope we see far less fall coats in July this year.

[garthdanlor]

I've gone a few times, but the crazy line-ups for beer tickets are just too much so I'm not going this year...unless Grand River Brewing finally makes an appearance.

[Shawn]

Ribfest & Craft Beer Show --2010 Update
July 16-18, 2010
Victoria Park
FREE ADMISSION!
Friday 5pm-10pm
Saturday noon-10pm
Sunday noon-6pm
http://www.kitchenerribandbeerfest.com/main2.cfm

Welcome to the Downtown Kitchener Ribfest & Craft Beer Show!

Barbequed ribs and chicken, great craft-brewed beer, live entertainment - all in the great atmosphere of Victoria Park. Life doesn't get much better! Bring your friends, family and co-workers and savour the flavour!

Admission is free but donations to The Food Bank of Waterloo Region will be accepted at the gate. Please note that due to the nature of the event, anyone under the age of 19 must be accompanied by an adult (ie. your parents) to be admitted.

MIDWAY RETURNS! Due to the overwhelming success last year, the midway will be returning. Operated by GTA Midways, the family midway will be running adjacent to the Ribfest providing fun activities for children of all ages

[Spokes]

In the past have any of the days been better than the others? Or will I get the same experience any day/night?

[Spokes]

Just noticed this years list of brewers and it looks great! Looking forward to it.

• Amsterdam Brewing Co.
• Big Rock Brewery
• Brick Brewing Co.
• Cameron's Brewing Company
• F&M Brewery
• Great Lakes Brewery
• Mill Street Brewery
• Nickel Brook Beers
• Railway City Brewing Company
• Steam Whistle Brewing
• The Flying Monkey's Craft Brewery
• Wellington Brewery

[UrbanWaterloo]

I'd say Friday Evening is the best, followed by Saturday Evening (weather depending of course). Sunday's are usually dead in comparison. Make sure you delegate responsibility for food and beer. As soon as you get there have one person immediately start standing in the beer token line and have them buy the maximum coins (20 in previous years). Have someone else start standing in the food lines. This is because the line-ups can easily take 30 minutes to get through. It's hardly fun to wait 30 minutes as is, but don't make the mistake of waiting consecutively (60 minutes) rather do the waiting concurrently.

[Urbanomicon]

If I remember correctly, they judge the winner for best ribs Saturday afternoon. So if you're interested in which vender has the best, you'll want to be present then.

[Spokes]

Ribfest to take over Victoria Park this weekend

July 14, 2010
Record staff

Victoria Park will be sizzling this weekend as the annual Downtown Kitchener Ribfest and Craft Beer Show takes roots for three days of food and fun.

Taking place Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., this year’s food and drink festival will feature seven ribbers and 12 breweries for the tasting pleasure of the expected crowd of around 20,000. Admission is free, although donations to The Food Bank of Waterloo Region will be accepted at the gate.

There will be two new competitors at this year’s rib showdown, with Alabama-based Camp 31 BBQ and Ontario’s Blazin BBQ joining five other booths to tempt visitors’ taste buds. Food prices will range between $6 for a pulled pork sandwich to $22 for a full rack rib dinner.

For those who want variety, there will also be other food vendors on hand serving ice cream, cotton candy and barbecued vegetables among other things.

After you fill your belly, there will be more than 50 different brands of beer from the dozen craft breweries that have signed up for this year’s craft beer show. Beer samplers must purchase a $6 wristband to try the brewers’ work, with each four-ounce sample costing $1.

On top of the variety of beers available, those who are thirsty can also cool down with water, pop, lemonade, and the work of an Ontario cooler company.

The midway will also return for this year’s festival, along with live entertainment each evening. For more information, people can log on to www.kitchenerribandbeerfest.com.

[Spokes]

So....who's going?

[Spokes]

Went tonight, and was packed! And I had a blast. My first experience was amazing and won't be my last. Wont even be my last this year.

As UrbanWaterloo mentioned, its worth waiting in line in teams. The beer line was probably close to 45 mins (we got there at 645 and I imagine the line got longer as the night went on.) And then have someone go get food. We probably waited 10 mins for food (3 mins the 2nd time around - at the end of the night, if you want an end of the night snack, do it, they'll load the pulled pork sandwhich up with 2x the meat. Trust me, I know!)

Great food, beer, music and people. Cant wait for tomorrow.

A few of us were commenting, this weekend is probably like Boxing Day for downtown bars. All these half to completely boozed people being pushed out between 10 and 11, they've got to go somewhere for more! It'd be interesting to see the downtown bar's numbers jump tonight

[KLM]

Went tonight, and was packed! And I had a blast. My first experience was amazing and won't be my last. Wont even be my last this year.

As UrbanWaterloo mentioned, its worth waiting in line in teams. The beer line was probably close to 45 mins (we got there at 645 and I imagine the line got longer as the night went on.) And then have someone go get food. We probably waited 10 mins for food (3 mins the 2nd time around - at the end of the night, if you want an end of the night snack, do it, they'll load the pulled pork sandwhich up with 2x the meat. Trust me, I know!)

Great food, beer, music and people. Cant wait for tomorrow.

A few of us were commenting, this weekend is probably like Boxing Day for downtown bars. All these half to completely boozed people being pushed out between 10 and 11, they've got to go somewhere for more! It'd be interesting to see the downtown bar's numbers jump tonight

lol ,I wonder how many calls police are going to receive because of bar fights!

[Spokes]

lol ,I wonder how many calls police are going to receive because of bar fights!

I wouldnt expect many. There werent tons of cops there tonight, a few I knew and they said things were calm, which was clear to any observer. Why would you expect bar fights?

[KLM]

I wouldnt expect many. There werent tons of cops there tonight, a few I knew and they said things were calm, which was clear to any observer. Why would you expect bar fights?

hey thats common thing in downtown k-town.