A new festival is set to debut in Jarvis this coming weekend.
Fittingly, the event is named JarvisFest.
Richard Moorse, a Jarvis resident for 17 years, proposed the festival idea to the Jarvis Lions Club in the fall of last year after attending a rib festival in Saskatoon with his wife, Marianne.
With Cornfest no longer in the picture, Moorse pitched the idea for Jarvis to have his own ribfest.
“I was amazed about how many people were on board with it, which was very heartening and the Jarvis Board of Trade was happy to help with it as well. Things are coming together and it’s been a fast-learning curve for me,” said Moorse, who is the chair for the JarvisFest Planning Committee.
Organizers are expecting a large crowd for the three-day event, which starts Friday.
“We are estimating about 5,000 people will turn out, we don’t know, time will tell,” he said. “There will be free admission. We will be asking for donations at the gate and selling buttons as well.”
The festival, held at Lions Park, will feature live entertainment, a midway for children, sports tournaments, beer tent, ribs and many other food and beverage options. It runs from 3 pm to 11 pm on Friday, 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday and 8 am to 7 pm on Sunday. A fireworks display will be held on Friday night.
“This is the only ribfest we have in the Jarvis,” said Moorse. “Gator BBQ owners and committee members Matt and Louise Smith provided insight on which direction we should go with accommodating rib venues.”
Bill Cummings, who was involved with CornFest and is also a member of the organizing committee, has also helped steer the festival in the right direction on the ribfest front, Moorse said.
The weekend will also include at least 17 vendors.
Sunday morning will kick off with a church service and pancake breakfast prior to the other festival events such as disc golf, a magic show with Lucas Wilson, music, entertainment and more.
Moorse said he hopes to make the festival an annual event.
For a complete lineup of the weekend events, go to JarvisFest on Facebook.