Five of North America’s best ribbers have converged on the Sydney waterfront for the island’s very first RibFest.

The enticing smells of Southern BBQ are drawing Cape Bretoners to the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavillion in Sydney, where they can sample meat cooked by five professional ribbers. Each ribber is vying to be voted the best in three categories – best ribs, best sauce, and people’s choice - and the competition is as intense as the flavours.

“The sauce is the boss and also the ribs, the technique we use is a slow bake. Takes lots of time,” says ribber George Kefalidis.

Ribber Dan Williams hails from Alabama, where BBQ is king.

“We'll smoke our ribs for four hours over cherry wood,” says Williams. “Our pulled pork we'll smoke for 12 hours. Smoked chicken is a delight that no one on the East Coast has had before, I can almost guarantee you.”

More than 10,000 visitors are expected to partake in RibFest this weekend.

“You see the smiles walking in the gate, they're checking out the ribbers, portion sizes, food that they're trying, it's amazing,” says Sara Salter-Burke, Sydney RibFest co-chair.

Ron Agnew is visiting RibFest for the first time Friday. While the experience was new to him, he knew what he was looking for.

“Tenderness, comes off the bone easy and good taste,” says Agnew.

Other Maritime cities have recently held successful RibFests. Salter-Burke says the secret to the success is a desire for something unique.

“I mean, food trucks are on the rise,” says Salter-Burke. “People are looking for different styles of food and it's more about variety, than just ribs. So they want some new sauces, new techniques, everyone's a bit of a foodie.”

If ribs don’t tickle your fancy, there are other options to choose from, such as sausages, poutine, corn, and even desserts.

The tasty event is more than just an opportunity to treat your taste buds.

“All those proceeds collected at the gate and all the proceeds from different events held here on the property, all goes to Hospice Palliative Care Society,” says Salter-Burke.

The Sydney RibFest wraps up Sunday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald