Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

The fastest growing festival in Iowa:

Every year the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival essentially doubles in size. Every year it sells out in less than half an hour. This year’s total was 4,000 tickets in just 25 minutes.
In four years the event has gone from a 200-person gathering of bacon fans at el Bait Shop and High Life Lounge to an event that needs a 165,000-square-foot building to house it.
And clearly demand has still not been met.
“After that first year our goal was to become the premiere bacon festival in the world,” said founder and Bacon Board member Brooks Reynolds. “We knew we couldn’t achieve that goal and keep it small. I think we’re on the right path to making this a pretty large signature food event for Iowa.”
Having reached the Iowa State Fairgrounds, there aren’t a lot of other venues the event can move to and still keep growing at this rate. Brooks likes the February timing, which cuts down on competition, but it also means an outdoor event isn’t a possibility. The Bacon Board is looking at other options to expand, such as possibly making it a two-day event. Reynolds said the group will start examining options not long after a short “bacon break” following Saturday’s event.

They've got bacon drinks.  Is that bacon grease martinis or something?