17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Greetings friends! I though I would stop by this early morning and share a few FUN photos from the 17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. This past weekend, we took a road trip up to Iowa to see the BEST of friends and attend the 2025 Bacon Festival. Over the the last 17 years, we have made it to almost every Bacon Fest...and even though we made the move to Kansas City, we still make the annual trip back "home" for this event each year. This year the bacon festivities were held indoors at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Agriculture Building. Our group had a VIP table/tickets for the event...and we were able to attend an hour earlier than the general public. We made so many memories over the weekend...we arrived in Des Moines on Friday evening and our Iowa friends (I call them family) had a big party and we were able to see almost everyone (including two new additions - babies that were born the last year!). Then, we spent all day Saturday at Bacon Fest. The theme this year was The Bacon Boat - and the costume contest was filled with characters from the original Love Boat television show - the winners were a group that included Captain Stubing, Julie McCoy, and Isaac Washington (there's a throwback cast list for you). There was axe throwing, all sorts of photo ops, my yearly photo with the bacon belt, a silent disco, lots of live music (Yachty by Nature!), all sorts of bacon food dishes, tasty beverages, a bacon eating contest, and the best people watching around...and did I mention, all the bacon you can eat! We finished the day by visiting two local bars and laughing into the wee hours. It was the BEST two days with my Iowa family...including ending day two by cramming nine adults into one Traverse (last time is was 10 adults into one Suburban). I couldn't have asked for a better road trip and I am already looking forward to next year! Sadly, Sunday we made the drive back to Kansas City...but the whirlwind trip was so good for my soul. We made it back home just in time to head out to Children's Mercy Park for a Sporting KC MLS soccer game (it was Star Wars night!)...it was a jam packed weekend. Here are a few favorite photos from the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival...