by Ellen Shaughnessy | updated 10/31/2017: Bacon once again Beckons!
Ready or not, here it comes: November 4+5, 2017.
Pop by our space at Free Bridge Realty, to enjoy a home-made chocolate chip bacon cookie (while supplies last!) and enter to win our seasonal photo contest, or try our Locals Crossword Challenge – each has a prize worth $50.00!
The weather could not have been more spectacular, for this sizzling festival (2015). While this year featured a somewhat controversial $2.00 suggested donation, to help support the GEDP development partnership that pays for downtown programs such as the Main Street Initiative, Easton Ambassadors, and a part-time event manager for Baconfest — it was the most people attending an Easton festival, ever. Check out some fun fest photos on facebook.
Art du Cuchon is back too! Check out this local artists’ feast for the eyes at the Connexions Art Gallery
Here’s my review of bacony-goodness, from the November 9, 2014 blog…
Why Bacon? It’s simple:
1. Everyone loves Bacon (well except vegetarians).
2. It is a local farm-to-table event, with its foundation being the Easton Farmers’ Market (whose mission is to offer local, natural, organically grown, antibiotic and hormone-free, and pasture-raised foods).
3. It is relished in the beautiful historic downtown Easton, PA setting.
This will be the and largest of the wildly successful Baconfest weekends in Easton PA – and I can bear witness to the thousands that are descending on downtown Easton, driven by a pork torque.
How did such a thing ever start start?
“It started with Megan, myself, and a couple of other people that happened to meet in the circle during the farmers’ market. We heard about a new Lehigh Valley vegetarian festival and at that point thought – yes, we need one more much meatier festival… a meat-a-palooza, perhaps – hmm, almost… Then? Lightbulb strike! Baconfest? Yesssss, BACON” and that is how it was born, noted Baconfest committee member / logistics poo-bah and official keeper-of-Megan’s sanity Liz Wyant.
Certainly the gorgeous fall weather does not hurt and today promises to be yet another autumn beauty. Historic Easton is not huge and you might wonder how an enormous porcine festival that attracts nearly 50,000 bacon-lovers can work in a small town like this? Kudos to the Baconfest committee for coming up with an excellent parking shuttle program this year.
While the downtown is still a bit clogged and you might need to sit in traffic a little longer than usual, things are still moving and it just requires a little more patience. As you wait to move forward, you might even find yourself smiling, as that unmistakable sizzlin’ scent wafts into your car and you decide that there is a new priority in your day now; it must involve savoring a scrupmtious iteration of succulent swine. Confession: this happened to me yesterday.
One moment I was leaving my office and sitting in traffic. Before I knew what was happening, I was suddenly sucked into a lobster, bacon, mac-cheese vortex and obviously there was no turning back. Speaking of suddenly… this year’s events included not only your typical swine racing, sooooweeee hog-calling contest, bacon cocktail contests, multiple bacon cook-offs but the 3rd annual Baconfest also included a Bacon inauguration.
This year celebrates the crowning of the first-ever Miss PA Bacon: Congratulations to Suddenly Samantha’s Tara Kingsley!
H A N G R Y .
At the onslaught of PA Baconfest in 2012, the Easton Farmers’ Market organizers were completely shocked by the volumes of bacon-lovers. “We were absolutely blown away by the crowds. We knew that it would be a fun day and we would gather a crowd, but WOW were we blown away! There were lines everywhere, then vendors started running out of bacon. Chaos ensued!” Angry outcries, fire-torch and pitch-fork carrying bacon-seekers raged…
“It got ugly. I had to take down our facebook site when people started lashing out on our facebook page. So, hopefully the 30,000 pounds of bacon that is here this year will be enough!” Yes Liz Wyant, I should hope that 30,0000 lbs. will do for this year.
In conclusion, are we so shallow that all we care about is devouring lard-laden goodies?
No… this festival and the many others attest to the great love we all hold for our community. Some paid employees (that go well beyond their job descriptions), and armies of dedicated volunteers give countless hours of their precious time for the hard work required to pull these festivals off. Thank you to all that give their time to making this a better place to live; it just gets better and better.
Soooooo many fests in the Lehigh Valley!
- * NEW!! Easton out LOUD: every fourth fridays, kick-off is May 26th, 2017.
* Bethlehem juried fine arts fair, Mother’s Day weekend.
* Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival, 2nd week June - * Heritage Day in Easton – celebrates the first reading of the Declaration of Independence here. 2nd weekend of July; don’t miss the amusing crowd response / nay-sayers during the actual reading of the declaration!
* MusicFest in Bethlehem, early August.
* Artwalk – Bethlehem arts festival every spring.
* ‘Celtic Classic’ in early September.
* Movies @the Mill, in Easton – 2nd Saturday in September
* Riverside Festival of the Arts – including the annual Easton Plein Air Art Contest, 3rd weekend Sept
* GARLICfest! eat * stink * drink. First Oct. weekend in Easton.
* have you heard that Easton is a little ‘scary’? check: www.HauntedEaston.com
* Holiday crafts at historic Bethelehem’s Chriskindlmarkt – late Nov-mid Dec.
* indie made craft market in Allentown: 1st saturday in Dec.
* also check out Allentown’s quarterly Art Squalk
