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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 2, 2015 | 28 Artscene by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff "Connected to your Community" Thousands brave torrential downpours and head to Oakville's Family Ribfest Rain may have teemed down on The Co-operators Oakville Family Ribfest Saturday, but it didn't dampen spirits, as thousands still turned up despite the weekend's torrential downpours. "I would like to thank the tenaciousness of Oakvillians for still coming out and all the volunteers that still showed up with their ponchos and worked in the rain and everybody who pulled together. It just shows a lot about Oakville. We were just thrilled," said Trish Peden, Ribfest chair. "Other communities shut theirs down, but we went ahead and still had folks come out, which really says a lot about the community." Toronto Ribfest tweeted Sunday it had to close due to unsafe grounds, but would reopen Monday. Saturday is typically the biggest day for Oakville's Ribfest as the annual festival is traditionally open from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. But because of strong rain and heavy winds, the event had to shut down operations at 6 p.m. before reopening again on Sunday. Because of that shutdown, Peden said this year's local festival won't be reaching anywhere near the totals of previous years -- adding this year's fundraising results weren't yet available. The Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (RCOT) hosts Oakville's Ribfest, which see all proceeds support local Rotary projects, community charities, student bursaries and the RCOT's international work. "It breaks my heart that we're not going to have the funds to give to the community that we want to," Peden said. But it wasn't all bad news for Oakville's Ribfest, with approximately 11,000 people coming out for the festival's opening Friday -- a record, according to Peden. Nearly 4,500 festival-goers still braved the elements on the Saturday, with a couple of thousand attending Sunday. "Saturday was challenging to be sure. We had wicked winds and terrible conditions," said Peden. "We made that call to shut down... because I was worried about the heavy winds and I didn't feel it was going to be safe. Saturday, which would've been our biggest day, was a basic write-off." Peden returned Sunday morning to the Sheridan College grounds, where the Oakville Ribfest is held, and said the scene was devastating. "There were vendor tents strewn everywhere. Security had said at about 4 a.m. was the worst of the winds," she said. "We persevered, though. We tidied up, cleaned up... We kept tweeting and letting everyone know we were open. "We wanted to persevere because we're trying to make money for Oakville and you can't do that if you're closed." see Boss on p.29 Oakvillians came in record numbers during opening day of The Co-operators Oakville Family Ribfest Friday, including Kevin Kavalenka (at left) who had his hands full carrying four orders of ribs back to his table with daughter Alice, seven months old, in her carrier. Folks still braved the elements to head the annual festival Saturday and Sunday. Above, Ribfest volunteer Joan Turner tries calling for a ride while trying to keep herself and her phone dry Saturday. Organizers finally pulled the plug at 6 p.m. due to the weather but the festival reopened Sunday. | photos by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver BIG MOVIES, SMALL PRICES! 171 Speers Road (at Kerr) Oakville 905-338-6397 www.film.ca facebook.com/filmca @FilmCaCinemas General: $8.50 Children ( 3-13): $6.50 TerminaTor July 1 minions July 10 anT man July 17 VaCaTion July 29 mission impossible mpossible July 31 seniors ( 65+): $6.50 Tuesdays: $5.00