{"id":216567,"date":"2018-08-27T18:56:18","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T08:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=216567"},"modified":"2020-07-28T12:55:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T02:55:13","slug":"kingaroy-enjoys-a-pig-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/08\/27\/kingaroy-enjoys-a-pig-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingaroy Enjoys A Pig Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It seemed like everyone came to BaconFest on Saturday, including “Dame Edna” and her friends Dave and Vicki Johnson, from Woodford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 27, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

The threat of wet weather on the weekend caused some headaches for Kingaroy’s inaugural BaconFest but not enough to stop the main day sizzling.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Meteorology had been forecasting a wet weekend but while parts of Nanango received some showers on Saturday afternoon, organisers breathed a sigh of relief when Kingaroy stayed dry.<\/p>\n

However, on Sunday morning the promised rain finally arrived and it was damp until near lunchtime, with the festival winding down a few hours afterwards.<\/p>\n

BaconFest kicked off on Friday with a pork industry conference held away from the spotlight at Kingaroy Town Common Hall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The day-long workshop was capped off with a Wine and Swine cocktail party on Friday night which had originally been planned for the Glendon Street Forecourt.<\/p>\n

Unwilling to take any risks with the weather, organisers moved the $102-per-head soiree inside Kingaroy Town Hall where it went off without a hitch.<\/p>\n

Dancing continued into the evening.<\/p>\n

Saturday morning began early when about 50 cyclists and 50 runners lined up for the “Rail Trail Rasher’s Rush”, with runners tackling a course to Crawford and cyclists a course to Memerambi.<\/p>\n

After this, several hundred parents and their children took advantage of the fine morning weather to enjoy “Little Piggies In The Park”, a free event in Memorial Park aimed at children 12 and under that offered free entertainment until about noon.<\/p>\n

In Glendon Street, thousands more turned out from mid-morning to enjoy food vans, community stalls, local wines and a variety of entertainment on a stage set up in the forecourt, or cast their eyes over the 20 competitors who were taking part overnight in the Sunpork Smoke Off barbecue competition.<\/p>\n

The smoke-off was a round of the Australasian Barbecue Alliance national competition.\u00a0Winners were: Pork Belly – Fiery Briskets Barbecue; Beef Ribs – Grilling In The Name Of; Pork Ribs – Manning Valley Natural Smokers; Pork – Justhavingago BBQ; and Chicken Low and Slow – BBQ Shack. Grand Champion ($500 prize):\u00a0Manning Valley Natural Smokers.<\/p>\n

The gold coin entry into the markets raised almost $10,000 for Murgon’s Graham House Community Centre, much to the delight of BaconFest organisers.<\/p>\n

Stallholders also reported great sales, with one food vendor saying he sold several hundred kilos of pork ribs to the Saturday crowd.<\/p>\n

The fun and games continued with 10 teams taking part in the inaugural Bacon Olympics – “Piggy Wit It” took home the bacon (5kg of it) – and the stylish Miss BaconFest Pageant.<\/p>\n

Overnight and early morning rain prompted organisers to move Sunday morning’s Long Table Breakfast inside Kingaroy Town Hall.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, BaconFest organisers said they hoped to draw so many visitors to the South Burnett they’d have people camping out on Kingaroy’s front lawns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This didn’t happen, but the town’s accommodation operators were booked out on Saturday night, with some picking up extra business on Friday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Kingaroy Showgrounds had a bumper weekend with up to 120 caravanners staying over the festival’s three days, and some coming as early as Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Showgrounds arranged buskers to entertain the visitors and a food van to cater for them, serving up buffet breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday and dinners on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

BaconFest was funded with about $85,000 in grants and local sponsorships.<\/p>\n

Many businesses and community groups also donated their time and resources to it, which ranged from taking part in a BaconFest window dressing competition to manning market stalls and helping out at the festival’s many events.<\/p>\n

Organisers look forward to repeating the BaconFest success in 2019.<\/p>\n

[Photos by southburnett.com.au, Ros Heit and Deb Frecklington]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related links:<\/strong><\/p>\n