After taking a hiatus last summer, Toronto's Largest Ribfest is officially returning to Centennial Park this Canada Day weekend — however, its comeback hasn't been without its challenges. 

For over 20 years, the renowned festival— which has been renamed "Toronto's Largest Ribfest" instead of "Toronto Ribfest" — was run by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke (RCE). 

The event, which is RCE's premier fundraising initiative, is historically operated by volunteers, with funds raised from the event being passed to causes such as Shelterbox Canada, Youth Without Shelter, and Salvation Army. 

However, according to a cease and desist letter obtained by blogTO, the RCE sought the assistance of an event company in 2023 to help run the festival and reduce the volunteer burden. 

According to the letter, the RCE reached an oral agreement with event production company, Ontario Festival Group (OFG), whereby the latter group would "run the general operation of the event," and the former would be responsible for signage and furnishing volunteers to control the admissions and gating process.

"To facilitate operation of the event and in view of the agreement, it was determined that the OFG Group should take over permit RCE had obtained from the City of Toronto to run the 2023 event," the letter reads. 

The document alleges that the OFG group "refused to honour the agreement," and advised RCE that the company would "move forward with Ribfest TO on [its] own." None of these allegations have been proven. 

The letter, sent to the current organizers, demands them to cease and desist using the intellectual property name, "Toronto Ribfest." 

Despite the contentious transition, current organizers say they're just happy to witness the festival — a defining moment for many small businesses — make its grand return to the community. 

"Our goal isn't to upset these guys from the Rotary Club, and we appreciate everything they've put into this event," a representative from the OFG, who preferred to remain anonymous, told blogTO. 

"We're all excited that finally Ribfest is coming back to Centennial Park after four long years, obviously we've had some challenges with COVID and I'm sure the Rotary has experienced some challenges because of COVID as well, which is why they cancelled the event in 2022," said Ricky Brooks, President and CEO of the OFG. 

"They called us, we had some discussions about working together to put this big event on, and things kind of went sideways a little bit during the negotiations, it didn't leave us a lot of time, but we do have the permit with the city," Brooks told blogTO. 

While negotiations may have been rocky, Brooks says organizers are happy to know that 350 jobs were saved in the end. 

"Toronto Ribfest coming to Centennial Park is such a positive thing and we just want to focus on all the positive vibes, everyone needs it right now, because even us, as staff, are challenged with smoke in the air while we're setting up," he continued. 

"I think there's a lot of other issues going on, we don't need to spend our focus on what happened between the Rotary and the event, we're just solely focused on right now, let's make sure the event is successful so that people can enjoy themselves for this weekend." 

Brooks said no attendees have inquired about the name change as of yet, since people widely regard the festival as "Toronto's Largest Ribfest" anyway. 

The four-day event takes place at Centennial Park from Friday, June 30 to Monday, July 3. The free event features 10 of North America's best rib teams, as well as a plethora of festival foods like mini donuts, roasted corn, poutines, and funnel cakes.

Live music events throughout the long weekend will feature tributes to Bob Marley, The Tragically Hip, and ACDC. Donations are welcomed and will support local charities like Football Toronto.