The 2022 Kamloops RibFest (Photo via Victor Kaisar)

Organizers of this weekend’s Ribfest in Kamloops say they are very pleased with the way things went.

Speaking on NL Mornings, Daybreak Rotary spokesperson Bryce Herman estimates over 80,000 people made their way through Riverside Park over the course of three days.

“We know about 30 per cent of that is from people who travel in for Ribfest, so we have done analysis on that,” Herman said. “So they spend their dollars here, they buy food, they stay in hotels, they’re not just at Ribfest, but they’re also partaking in other activities in our city.”

Herman estimates about 60,000 people made their way into the larger, gated area of Riverside Park that was licensed for alcohol over the weekend. Friday and Saturday saw about 25,000 visits each, while Sunday saw about 10,000 people.

“And then of course, you got the Family Fun Zone that is outside of that licensed fenced area, so our numbers for us on a festival count was 80,000 plus,” Herman added.

While the final fundraising totals are still being tallied, Rotary spokesperson Bryce Herman expects to see another good year financially.

“We know that we had a great year last year, and generated well over $100,000,” he said. “More so than anything this year, we’re probably going to be exceeding that but we’ve got a lot of bills to clear up and sort out.”

“We went into a whole new idea with doing this family-friendly beverage garden, so there were some additional costs involved with that. But those all look like it definitely paid dividends back in return.”

While Ribfest 2022 raised about $128,800, organizers said about $50,000 of that came from a one-time provincial grant.