The 15th annual Brantford Kinsmen Ribfest will be taking place at Mohawk Park from Friday, August 8, to Sunday, August 10, 2025.
Jeff Harding, entertainment coordinator for the Brantford Kinsmen Ribfest, said that visitors can expect to experience an entire weekend’s worth of good food, great music, and a whole lot of family fun.
For those who are looking to indulge, this year’s event will feature five pro-ribbers, and of course, a variety of classic festival treats.
“This year we’re welcoming back Brickyard BBQ, who’ve been with us from the start; Crazy Canuck Smokers, who are from right here in Brantford; Gator BBQ from Norfolk County; Razorback BBQ and then Jack the Ribber, which is a new one for our festival,” said Harding. “We also have an additional eight food vendors who will be serving up stuff like burgers, fries, roasted corn on the cob, funnel cake, and bloomin’ onions, which are always a festival favourite. The Icee Company will also be there, and then we’ll have ice cream there as well.”
Like always, the ribbers will be competing for different awards throughout the weekend.
“There will be judges there, and so our ribbers will be competing for the title of best ribs, best chicken, best sauce, and best pig-rig, and then we’ve got the people’s choice award which is always seen as the ‘crème de la crème,’” said Harding.
Those in attendance will also be able to enjoy the kids zone featuring Air Bounce Inflatables, the vendor marketplace, as well as the beer and cooler garden. Also, new to this year’s Ribfest is axe throwing with Brantford’s Smash N’ Axes Emporium.
The grounds will officially open on Friday at 4 p.m., and the event will kick off with the opening ceremonies at 5 p.m.
As far as the evening’s entertainment, Stone the Radio will go on at 6 p.m.., and headliner, Jack Sith, will end out the night starting at 8:30 p.m.
The fun continues into Saturday when the gates to the grounds open at 11 a.m. The day’s entertainment (which begins at 3:30 p.m.) will feature performances from the Nerds, BarCode, and the headliner, the Killin’ Time Band.
Gates will open once again at 11 a.m. on Sunday for the final day of the event. The Schmoe Bros will kick off the entertainment at 2:30 p.m., followed by headliner, Billboard Nation: The Cover Band, who will close out the annual Ribfest with their performance at 5 p.m.
Overall, Harding said that he and the team are looking forward to another great Ribfest, and that they’re hoping their new location will be a success.
“This is now the third location we’ve been in and, fingers crossed, it’s the last move for us,” he said. “The nice thing with being at Mohawk Park though, is that even though we’ll be set up in the upper level parking lot, there’s lots of shade around and the splash pad should be going, so if it’s unbearably hot out, the parents can also bring the kids down to the lower level and splash around.”
He also added that Ribfest just wouldn’t be possible without the help of their volunteers or sponsors.
“I have to thank all of our volunteers who have already gotten on board, they really are our VIPs because it’s very difficult to get good volunteers who put their heart and soul into everything they do,” said Harding. “Now, we’re always looking for volunteers and so if anyone is interested in volunteering they can email either ribfest@brantfordkinsmen.ca or volunteers@brantfordkinsmen.ca”
“I also have to give a big shout to our sponsors this year because we really couldn’t do this without them,” he continued. “Our beer garden is being presented by Sassy Britches Brewing Co., and our vendor marketplace sponsor is Lancaster Construction and Rent-a-Bin. We also have a bunch of BBQ Buddies like Sunbelt Rentals, Access Storage, BigSteelBox and Linamar too.”
Brantford’s Ribfest will run on Friday, August 8, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, August 9 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, August 10 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Entry is free, but donations are always welcome at the gate.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
