For the past two years, two 53-foot trailers’ worth of ribs have been sold out at Esquimalt Ribfest, the last stop for many Western Canadian touring “big-rig” barbecue companies.
Thousands were at Bullen Park on Saturday enjoying the music, the beer and, of course — the ribs, all made onsite by teams of professional travelling barbecue cooks.
Oliver Briggs, pitmaster and owner of Grizzly BBQ, said that people have to be “a little nuts” to work the rib circuit.
Crews usually start at around 9 a.m., and the days end when the ribs stop flowing, which could end up being as late 2 a.m. at some festivals, Briggs said.
There’s almost always a smoker full of product that has to be dealt with “right away.”
“It’s all about cooking ribs and keeping up with product right now, as fast as we can serve.
“You’ve got to be a little nuts. It’s long days, very long hours. You’re outside the entire time, so you’ve got to be able to stand the sun, stand the heat,” he said, with sweat glistening on his forearms. “You’ve got to love people. You’re interacting with thousands of people every day.”
Grizzly BBQ cooks Germain Lutz and Adam Major shared a laugh as Major cracked a joke. You wouldn’t be able to tell, but the pair had just met the day before, Briggs said. “It’s like going to war with someone, right? You’ve got to know them pretty damn quick.”
It has been a different town almost every week for the 20 or so employees at Grizzly BBQ this summer, as they’ve toured eight out of the 12 or so ribfests that were staged in Western Canada.
“This is the last stop, we are home!” yelled a cashier at Grizzly BBQ, an Island-based company, who was too busy taking orders from a long line of hungry customers to give her name.
Tom Woods, chair of the Ribfest Society, said that he can’t believe how big Esquimalt Ribfest has grown since Briggs — the two know each other through the rugby world— called about 10 years ago and asked him if there was any interest in bringing a ribfest to Esquimalt.
Woods had no idea what a ribfest was then, but a quick search on the internet showed him the potential.
“Eating ribs and drinking beer to support charity is a pretty good thing to do.”
It’s now one of the preeminent ribfest events in Western Canada, and one that brings in the most amount of money for the travelling barbecue companies due to the sheer amount of ribs that attendees consume, Woods said. “We have the most fun, the least amount of stress.”
Esquimalt Ribfest continues today from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Bullen Park. Parking is limited; bus routes 15 and 26 have stops nearby.
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