In case you haven’t heard, Bacon Fest 2018 is coming to downtown Easton on Saturday, November 3 and Sunday, November 4 from 10:00 am-6:00 pm. This two-day festival attracts over 80,000 attendees and has grown into one of the region’s most popular attractions. In case you’re still hesitant about attending, I’m here to enlighten you with 10 reasons why you should come to Bacon Fest 2018.
1. The Food Vendors and Obviously… BACON!!!
With over 100 vendors, Bacon Fest will not be lacking food options by any means. This event has been voted Best Culinary Event in the Lehigh Valley TWICE, which is no easy feat. There will be a variety of sweet and savory options coming from food trucks, local farmers markets, and restaurants. Along with an excellent assortment of food, Bacon Fest will also have a nice collection of drink options (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic if you are of age). The city will be filled with sizzling bacon and slow roasting pigs, which is a sight to see!
There are performances almost every hour and are located in three convenient locations. With genres from Rock n’ Roll, to Dance, to Country there is a style that will appeal to everyone! With so many local performances, you will be exposed to so many different types of music you might even hear a new favorite! This is an excellent way to get a taste of the local Lehigh Valley talent and support your local musicians!
Bacon Fest offers a wide range of activities that cover a variety of price ranges (including free)! The events I’m most looking forward to are the pig and weiner dog races. With 5 different race times on Saturday and Sunday, there is no reason you won’t be able to cheer on your favorite short legged buddy. The Mascot Dast, a race between Lehigh Valley mascots, is another free event at the festival provided purely for your entertainment. The Lafayette Leopard will be making an appearance, so come out and support the Pards! If you’re looking to get into the action, there is a mechanical hog pit where you can pay the low, low price of $7 to hold onto a pig for dear life. Additionally, there is a bacon eating contest you can enter if you’re confident in your bacon scarfing abilities. While these are all advertised and scheduled events, there will be way more activities that you can find all over the festival, so don’t feel obligated to pre-plan your entire day.
You’ve probably never participated in a 5K quite like this… Three mascot pigs will take off 30 seconds before the scheduled race time and if you beat them, your prize is extra bacon! In addition to the ‘Passing the Pigs’ award, there are also prizes for each age group. Register by October 23 to receive a long sleeve Bacon Fest tee-shirt! A bonus to participating in this race is that by the time you’re done you’ll be conveniently near all the bacon you can eat!
5. Fun on a Budget
If you are a broke college student like me and are worried Bacon Fest will be too expensive for you, don’t worry! There is a suggested $2 donation fee at the entrance which goes towards local Easton organizations like Easton Main Street Initiative and Easton’s Farmers Market. Additionally, by donating you receive a raffle ticket that can be entered to win a prize of a gift basket worth $100! Even better, once you are in the festival there are a wide variety of free activities, entertainment, and food for your enjoyment.
The Pigskin Lounge is a designated area of the festival where you can watch NCAA and professional football in a tented lounge. This is perfect if you need a break from all the crowds and excitement, or just want a spot to catch up on your favorite teams while munching on some snacks!
7. Volunteering
Volunteering at Bacon Fest is an awesome opportunity to get more involved in community and be in the center of all the action and excitement! By volunteering you can receive ‘Sweet Swine Swag’ which can include a bumper sticker, a tee-shirt, or a long sleeved shirt. When you are not volunteering you also have the opportunity to explore the festivities and of course… eat bacon!
8. Held Rain or Shine
Bacon Fest is held rain or shine, so it is a dependable event for the weekend of November 3 and 4. You can rely on Bacon Fest to be a constant in your life!
9. Costume Contest
The Bacon Fest costume contest is an awesome way for you to repurpose your week old Halloween costume, or a great excuse to buy another! Even if you don’t want to participate in the contest, going to the festival and seeing thousands of people in costumes will be pretty entertaining. You can even see if you agree with who the judges vote as the winner of the contest.
10. It’s Right Here in Easton, PA!
Bacon Fest is one of the biggest events in the Lehigh Valley and potentially even Pennsylvania and it is happening in our backyard (not literally). Downtown Easton is just a short walk down the steps, plus you’re gonna be happy about the cardio after eating all that delicious bacon!
Now that you have heard about all the fun events at Bacon Fest, it is no surprise that it was named one of the top 300 festivals in the world by FEST300.com. I can’t wait to see you all there!