Bacon to be celebrated at new festival
COSHOCTON – Did you know that Coshocton’s Kraft Foods plant is a major supplier of bacon to the Midwest and beyond?
A group of local volunteers want to share that fact and the yummy Oscar Mayer bacon made by Kraft Foods at the Appalachian Bacon Nation festival.
“Kraft has helped us financially and a volunteer team from there has really been instrumental in getting the festival off the ground,” Fuller said.
The festival is planned for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, on the court square.
“There will be lots of food vendors having different kinds of dishes and at least one of the dishes has to center around bacon,” said Brad Fuller, who is heading up the team of volunteers organizing the festival. “We just asked that they use Oscar Mayer bacon since that’s what the festival is all about.”
There also will be craft vendors, live music, a bacon eating contest and bacon cooking contest with sweet and savory categories. Cooking contest entries need to be at the court square gazebo by 4 p.m. that day and organizers prefer you preregister.
Details and registration forms for both contests can be found online at www.appalachianbaconnation.com. On the website you also can find information on the festival’s 5K, which is sponsored by Raymond James – Pyle Financial and the Bacon King and Queen Contest. Proceeds from the 5K will benefit United Way of Coshocton County and the festival’s king and queen will each be presented with $500 scholarships.
Fuller said the king and queen contest will be at 2 p.m. and is open to high school juniors and seniors. Participants will be judged on an essay they wrote prior to the event, a recipe using Oscar Mayer bacon and on stage questions.
The fun on Sept. 13 also will spill over to the Park Space on Main Street.
“The Pomerene Center for the Arts is doing some fun stuff there,” Fuller said. “They will have a beer garden for those 21 and over, bacon sculptures and different fun stuff.”
Festival organizers also are designating a spot just for kids.
“Jr. Bacon Fun Land will have games and a bunch of things for kids,” Fuller said. “This is a family event. We want the entire family to come down and have a great time.”
Community members also are welcome to visit www.appalachianbaconnation.com and sign up to volunteer at the festival.
“We are starting kind of small, but the idea is to make this an annual event,” Fuller said. “We’ve gotten a lot of feedback. People are excited about it. We really hit social media hard and hopefully we have a great turn out.”
He also hopes the festival helps improve the quality of life in Coshocton.
“We want to give people cool things to do and reasons to love our town, but in addition to that we also want to show with the king and queen contest and the 5K that you need to give back to the community. This isn’t just an event. It has a purpose. We are going to have fun and help people.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Arts & Entertainment
