Rick Davis wasn’t a Rotarian when he attended RibFest last year, but he was recruited at the event. Now, he is the chairperson in charge of running the festival for its sixth year.
“It’s been great. One of the best parts of my job is the people I’ve met. The people, all the different charities, the heads of different organizations, the politicians, and just meeting the public – it’s so much fun,” Davis said.
He added that it goes with the true spirit of the event.
“This is one of those few community events where you can come and just enjoy yourself, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money… the intention is the true community spirit and a lot of these organizations’ spirit of pulling the community together.”
Davis thanked all the RibFest volunteers for their time to help run the event over the weekend.
“One of my biggest challenges was getting volunteers… So, I started talking to high schools, sports teams, and charities, and we maxed out. We have 450 volunteers this year,” he said.
The 450 volunteers recruited filled the 1,000 shifts needed to run the festival.
Since 2018, the four Langley Rotary Clubs have joined forces to host an annual RibFest event that has attracted tens of thousands of people from across the Lower Mainland.
This year approximately 44,000 attended the popular event over the weekend, up from last year’s attendance of 37,000.
“RibFest Langley is one of the very few events that is free to attend and includes all Kid Zone rides and events (even the immensely popular face painting) as well as the Pinnacle Pursuits Family Adventure Zone this year. People are coming for a great day with family and friends and is one of the main reasons for the increase in attendance,” Davis said.
It takes time to gather the final numbers of donations, but organizers are optimistic it will be another good year for the charities that benefit from RibFest.
Davis said the Mega 50/50 raffle sat at $316,000.
“We did, however, see attendees spending less on food and beverages this year. That may reflect our more challenging economic times than we faced last year with pent up demand coming out of COVID,” Davis shared.
He extended thanks to the festival’s many sponsors, and again to the volunteers for making the event possible.
“You brought joy to tens of thousands of people and our community is the beneficiary. This is what makes Langley special,” he said.
A highlight for Davis was the crowd dancing to the Saturday night headliner band and singing arm in arm.
RibFest will return to Langley next year, from Aug. 16 to 18.
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