Clinton Square is slated to sizzle with bacon, when Syracuse’s third annual Bacon Festival is set to bring all types of bacon concoctions to central New York.

At this year’s festival, visitors are invited to pig out on a variety of bacon-themed items such as bacon doughnuts, bacon-wrapped meatballs and bacon smoothies. The festival is set for Aug. 17 from noon to 9 p.m.

In addition to 34 vendors selling bacon-themed foods, the event will feature local music and bacon-themed activities like “Bobbing for Bacon,” a game where competitors try to eat string-tied bacon above them without using their hands. Every year, event organizers try to find more fun bacon activities for bacon fans to enjoy, said Jordan Prietti, events manager for Galaxy Events.

The festival is put on by Galaxy Events, the radio company behind the Taste of Syracuse festival that has branched out from broadcasting and started to put on local events.

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Prietti said that when the Bacon Festival first started, the organization thought only 5,000 people would attend, but brought out 20,000 attendees. Last year’s festival pulled a similar turnout, and they expect the same this August.

“We get people who love bacon. They travel all the way from Binghamton, Utica, Albany,” Prietti said.

But despite bacon-lovers who’ve attended previous years, Prietti said he strives to find creations never seen before at this year’s festival. Last year, she said the new creation was bacon lemonade. 

“My goal every year is to get every five or six unique bacon items that people haven’t tried before,” Prietti said. “So every year I try to outdo myself with a unique item.”

Along with the novel concoctions, some fan favorites will be coming back. Prietti said one of the most popular items every year is Glazed & Confused’s bacon donuts. 

Glazed & Confused is no stranger to bacon-themed desserts. Paul Valenti, Glazed & Confused’s owner, said the bacon-topped Dizzy Pig doughnut was the first donut they ever sold. Glazed & Confused will sell at the Bacon Festival for the second year straight.

Made with maple glaze, bourbon sugar and candied locally cured bacon, the donut store’s signature creation will be sold at the event for $3.

Glazed & Confused will also be having exclusive treats at the event. The $3 Disco Cake donut mixes bacon and chocolate flavors. The donut shop will also offer a sundae featuring French vanilla ice cream. The sundae is exclusive to the festival and will be sold for $7.

Adam Vryhof, owner of Big Awesome BBQ, said that participating in the festival was a no-brainer for them, as they were already doing bacon dishes when they heard about the Bacon Festival.

Vryhof said their most popular item is the bacon-wrapped meatball, which is sold in and out of the festival. For the event, the BBQ joint takes raw pork belly and cuts it into cubes and smokes it, unlike how traditional bacon is made by curing pork belly, the owner said.

“It just impresses me every year how creative people can get bacon,” Prietti said.

Published on July 1, 2019 at 11:15 pm

Contact Allison: alweis@syr.edu