Canada's Largest Ribfest is a three-day Labour Day weekend rib and barbecue festival held in Spencer Smith Park on the Burlington waterfront. Around a dozen American competitive barbecue teams set up their trailer-mounted smokers along the lake shore, judges award best ribs / best sauce / best chicken in a public competition, and the rest of the park fills with food trucks, midway rides, live music and 175,000 mostly Ontarian visitors.
The festival is run as a fundraiser by the Burlington Rotary and is free to enter, with all sales going to local charities. Sample a half-rack from a couple of different ribbers before committing to a full meal; the queues are longest from 5 pm.