Wet Bacon

As dark clouds gathered in the sky and threatened to open up and let the heavens loose, bacon lovers all over Atlanta were making a slow crawl over to Inman Park for the 11th annual Bacon Fest hosted by Dad’s Garage.

But as any true bacon lover will tell you, it takes more than just a little downpour to keep them away from the prized pork.

And so, despite the unfortunate weather conditions, the fest continued, much to the delight of all the carnivores in attendance. This year’s fest capped out at 700 people and 1,000 pounds of bacon, a new record. Festival attendees were treated to cups overflowing with bacon as well as PBR on tap. But it wasn’t just the bacon and the booze that makes this festival unique. It’s the celebration of bacon and bacon-related activities that keep people coming back for more.

“We’re having a great time even though it’s raining,” said Erin Cox, a first-time festival attendee. “The wine tasting is the funniest thing. I thought it was so good. There are stories about where the wine comes from and the history… And then you get a cracker with cheese whiz. It’ll knock your socks off.”

Indeed, the wine tasting was the most popular event at the festival, aside from the bacon itself. Crowds of curious bacon munchers gathered around the booth all day long to learn the history of Boones Farm Strawberry Fields, Mad Dog 20-20, and Richard’s Wild Irish Rose. Dad’s Garage co-founder Chris Blair and Garage rookie Barbara Tushbant led them through the delightful medley of wines with varying stories each time. And, of course, all participants were encouraged to sample the wines after the descriptions.

“I wouldn’t recommend smelling any of these,” Tushbant said. “Some of these are downright pungent.”

Blair said the festival has grown exponentially since it was founded 11 years ago. When it first started with the group it was just several guys hanging out on the porch eating bacon.

“The first one here in Atlanta we just had two Webber grills,” he said. “It was just a party for ourselves. A couple years later we decided to try and make a fundraiser out of it. We had someone donate bacon. And now it’s just escalated in size. This year we sold 700 tickets.”

Last year’s fest sold 500 tickets and raised $21,000 for the non-profit. This year’s fest was even bigger with more bacon and more carnival games including a wheelchair obstacle course, a heavy petting zoo, the worst caricatures ever drawn (self-proclaimed) and of course a staple of the fest, Dr. Boobies.

“Obviously he knows his boobies,” said Sarah Young, who had an appointment with Dr. Boobies. “I feel like he really narrowed in on the situation. I didn’t even have to use a co-pay. I’m the one that benefitted from this. And he’s so dashing.”

Dr. Boobies, a character played by Dad’s Garage actor Khari Hunt, is a staple of the fest. He studied for three weeks in the Bahamas, he claims. He’s been practicing at Bacon Fest for three years now, and said he has a desire to expand to in-home consultations.

It’s amazing how much fun a festival like this can be even as bathtub-like rain falls from the sky. As the rain continued to fall, happy hoggers walked around the Dad’s Garage compound with pigs painted on their faces, cups literally overflowing with bacon, and smiles still on their faces.

“Last year was so much smaller,” said Nikki Farrah, one of the participants in the Bacon Queen contest. “It’s grown two-fold at least. They expanded the ticketing tiers. We went bottomless bacon, it was definitely the most cost effective.”

Attendees could choose the level of pork they wanted to partake in from “portioned pork,” which for $25 could get you three cups of bacon and three cups of beer to “bottomless bacon,” which for $50 gave you unlimited bacon and beer. Although some tried, few were able to eat more than three cups of bacon. Beer on the other hand… And if you wanted to throw in another $50 you could have gone “whole hog” which gave you access to several high gravity beers, along with a whole hog donated by P’Cheen.

And what festival wouldn’t be complete without the crowning of the lord and lady of the land with the Bacon King and Queen. This year’s king and queen were decided via social media participation. Whoever tweeted and had enough facebook followers simply by posting about Bacon Fest were the winners. The super swiners this year were Niki Wing and Eric Hut. Wing said her emotions after snagging the honor were “pure cured-pork belly elatedness.” Who can’t relate to that?

Bacon Fest is unlike any fest. The originality included by the Dad’s Garage gang coupled with the greasy goodness of unlimited bacon is enough to keep people coming back and refilling their solo cups with meat even while being soaked by the sky.

“We go to all the fests,” said Cassie Jones, a Bacon fest first-timer. “We just Google fest and then pay and go. But this is by far the best fest we have ever been to. It’s so original and we’ve had the best time.”

Well, it is Bacon Fest. What did you expect?

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