• Stouffville Ribfest runs Aug. 7 to 9 at Memorial Park, with free admission beginning 4 p.m. Friday.
  • Four rib teams will compete for the festival’s Best Ribs and Best Sauce awards.
  • Visitors can also enjoy live entertainment, a kids zone, breweries and cideries, plus a wide range of food and marketplace vendors.
  • Friday’s entertainment lineup features Theland Kicknosway, Tedy, and Dan Davidson.
  • JUNO Award-winning pop artist Rêve headlines Saturday night, following acts like STEPH and CON THE ARTIST.
  • Sunday’s schedule includes community performances before the festival concludes with the awards ceremony.
  • Temporary road closures are in effect on Burkholder Street and portions of Park Drive throughout the festival weekend.

 

Stouffville’s 2026 Ribfest kicks off today, with four rib teams competing for Best Ribs and Best Sauce awards alongside a diverse lineup of live entertainment, food vendors, marketplace exhibitors, and family activities at Memorial Park.

The free, three-day festival runs from Aug. 7 to 9, opening at 4 p.m. on Friday. The annual event has become one of the community’s signature summer gatherings, drawing thousands of visitors for barbecue, live music, rides, midway games, and shopping.

This year’s ribbers include Fat Boys, Sticky Fingers BBQ & Company, Texas Rangers, and Uncle Sam’s Smoke House. A dozen food vendors will complement the event with everything from pizza and sushi to blooming onions, mini donuts, and frozen treats.

Visitors will also find four breweries and cideries serving beverages throughout the weekend, including Muddy York Brewing Co. and Slabtown. Marketplace vendors will round out the event with local produce, handcrafted goods, specialty foods, and more.

Live entertainment begins Friday evening with an Indigenous cultural performance by youth advocate and performer Theland Kicknosway, followed by Haitian-Canadian pop artist Tedy. The evening concludes with platinum Alberta musician Dan Davidson, who will bring his hit country to the band stage at 8:15 p.m.

Saturday’s lineup features emerging folk group Murray Drive, GTA singer-songwriter STEPH, and multidisciplinary performer CON THE ARTIST before the festival’s headline performance by JUNO Award-winning artist Rêve. Performing at 8:15 p.m., the Canadian singer has amassed nearly 200 million streams while establishing herself as one of the country’s fastest-rising pop performers.

Sunday’s entertainment shifts toward community performances after Cobourg country artist Ryan Scott takes the stage at 1:30 p.m. The Stouffville 55+ Club Chinese Public Square Dancers and Arthur Murray Stouffville will perform before the festival concludes at 6 p.m. with the presentation of the Best Ribs and Best Sauce awards.

Residents and visitors should also be aware of temporary road closures surrounding Memorial Park. Burkholder Street will remain closed through 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, while Park Drive, between Booth Drive and the northern entrance to the Leisure Centre, will be closed from 3 p.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Sunday.

Those looking to plan their visit can find the full entertainment schedule and additional festival information online.

 

Cover image provided by and used with permission from the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville