It takes more than a downpour and cool temperatures to keep the crowds away from ribs with all the fixings.

The fifth annual Esquimalt Ribfest, which kicked off Friday night, continued Saturday at Bullen Park with a steadily growing group of meat lovers eager to get their hands on some award-winning barbeque.

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“Who knew? Lo and behold, cold beer and hot ribs go together pretty well in Esquimalt,” said organizer Tom Woods.

The action started slowly with only a couple of hundred people grazing on ribs, staying dry under umbrellas or dancing to the live music. As the day dried out, the park swelled with rib aficionados.

Woods said organizers have been lucky with the weather for the past four years, and despite the midday downpour, they were still expecting a full park by Saturday night.

Security staff counted more than 1,200 within the gates by 5 p.m.

“Year 1 we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but it’s become a great community event and we see people from all over the place,” Woods said. “It’s a great family event, there’s live music, it’s free to get in and [there are] lots of things for the kids to do.”

It’s also a fundraiser for the Esquimalt Firefighter’s Charitable Fund, which supports a long list of local charities and organizations.

Woods said the event grosses about $100,000 a year and to date has given $175,000 to local charities. They are now working on funding an all-weather field for Esquimalt High School.

About 45,000 people took in the event last year, he said, with rib chefs — ribbers — going through enough ribs to fill a 53-foot semi trailer. He said he expects to hit those kinds of numbers again this year.

The ribbers come from across Canada. The professional barbeque teams have their own recipes and styles and compete at events around North America.

A festival liquor licence allows people to enjoy their beer while wandering the event.

“That festival licence is great, people can drink while they’re walking around — we’re not caging our drinkers,” said Woods, who estimates having free-range beer allows for a much more mellow event. “Cage people and it’s a licence to be rude and ignorant.”

Ribfest continues from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today at Bullen Park.

aduffy@timescolonist.com