Serious Facts

What – 6th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

When – Saturday, February 9, 2013, 10am – 5pm

Where – Iowa State Fairgrounds, Varied Industries Building and Elwell Family Food Center

Availability – Date of ticket sales announced at the end of the video above.

Consumption –Last year attendees of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival and “Bacon Week” consumed 6,000 lbs of bacon which is approximately 96,000 strips. If laid end to end it would nearly be half the diameter of Neptune!

Competition – A variety of professionally judged competitions take place before and during the festival. This includes bacon purveyor awards, restaurant awards, eating contests, song contests and a bacon queen pageant.

Bacon Showcase – The popular Bacon Showcase provides individuals with the opportunity to sample some of the nation’s best bacon brands and talk directly to brand reps. In previous years the following bacon brands have been showcased:

Applegate Farms
Iowa Farm Families
Compart Family Farms
Iowa Select Farms
Corky’s Cookout
Lohrville Locker
Des Moines Bacon Company
Niman Ranch
Eden Farms
Polehanas
Falls Brand
Spencer’s Jolly Posh Foods
Farmland
Vande Rose Farms
Hormel

Bacon Lecture Series – The Bacon Lecture Series brings together some of the most brilliant bacon minds providing festival attendees with the opportunity to challenge their bacon knowledge and beliefs. Past lecturers include:

• Austin Gill, Do-It-Yourself Bacon Purveyor
• Jonathan A. Campbell, MS with Iowa State Meat Laboratory
• Leo Landis, The Bacon Professor
• Scott Bush, Templeton Rye Whiskey

 
Iowa Bacon Board – Members of this highly esteemed board include: Seth Hall, Mark Pederson, Marshall Porter, John Tiffany and Brooks Reynolds. Learn more about the members here.

Our Mascot – A furry pig named, Blue, is the official mascot of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival.