Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Breakfast this morning was a treat - a Bacon Bloody Mary and Bacon Breakfast Pizza...and the reason for the bacon madness???...today was the highly anticipated 6th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival (Viking Bacon Quest - A Journey To The Land of Fire..and Ice..and Bacon!). Bacon Fest is always the hottest ticket in town...in fact, back on 12/12/2012, they sold out the 8,000 tickets in a record 3 minutes and 22 seconds...how I managed to snag a pair, I really have no idea. The event (which makes national news) was scheduled from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and was held at the Varied Industries Building and the Elwell Family Food Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds...we knew it was going to be a crazy day, when traffic was backed up on the Interstate and was extremely slow moving all the way to the entrance - a traffic jam for bacon festival, seriously. We arrived shortly after 10:00, only to wait in line outside for what seemed like a lifetime to get in the doors...but then the fun commenced and it was an entire day dedicated to BACON! We picked up a program and our goodie bags with our T-shirt, beverage koozie, and bacon bucks, and set out on our journey...

There IS a lot to do at Bacon Festival...of course there is food and drink - thousands of pounds of bacon, all sorts of local restaurants serving bacon delicacies, and full bars (this is a 21 and over event)...live music...all sorts of contests and awards - restaurant awards, eating contests, bacon mini golf, song contests, and a bacon queen pageant....there are bacon lectures and classes...and where else would I be able to meet Hacksaw Jim Duggan (professional wrestler)?! Truly the focus is on sampling some of the nation’s best bacon brands - trying unique bacon delicacies - and of course having an adult beverage or two to wash it down. I stuck with Bacon Bloody Marys and bottled water...and tried all sorts of bacon samples (my favorite was Denver Bacon Company)...as far as the specialty bacon dishes, we tried bacon breakfast pizza, bacon stuffed jalapenos, bacon pretzel bites with Maytag Blue Cheese, Bacon Gumbo (loved this!)...and then topped our day off with "Bacon, Maple, Bourbon, and Pecan Ice Cream" - and, oh yes, it was AMAZING! Since our friends had a VIP Table and Passes, I was lucky enough to visit the special VIP Room - where there was a band playing, bacon sweets (maple bacon cupcakes and bacon brownies) and VIP bathrooms with no waiting (this was fabulous!). We even walked over to the Iceland Building (located in the Elwell Family Food Center) where there was more live music, more delicacies, and an ice bar! It was a fabulous day of celebrating all things bacon with great friends...definitely a day to remember! Crossing my fingers I can get tickets again next year...

Here is a quick photo tour for you....

A shot of the crowd....

Me with Hacksaw Jim Duggan (professional wrestler)...

Iceland Building crowd shot...

Me and a friend partying with the Bacon Fest mascots...

The ice bar shot pig...

My husband taking a shot of Maple Crown Royal from
the ice pig at the Ice Bar....

Entering the VIP Room at Bacon Fest...

Bacon Putting Contest

Bacon Fest Treasures - T-Shirt, Beverage Koozie, Bacon Snap Bracelet

Good friends - GREAT TIME!

If you crave more things bacon - check out the photos from our Des Moines Register newspaper here: Bacon Festival Photos

And check out the Des Moines Register Video of the Iowa Culinary Institute cooking 6,000 pounds of bacon: