I’ve been to the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival every year, watching the festival grow from a small gathering of bacon lovers to the Super Bowl of pork bellies. Here are some tips you can either use or ignore. I’m not saying I live by them.
Go on a bacon fast: I consider cutting bacon from my diet for the month or even week leading up to the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. I always fail, but if you can do it I say go for it.
Hit up the booths of the smaller bacon companies: They often have no lines and free bacon.
Drink some water: Beer is an important part of Bacon Fest, but it doesn’t hydrate the way water does, and bacon is a salty food. Every third beer or so, try to guzzle a glass of water.
Bring napkins/hand sanitizer: Your hands will get greasy, and you don’t want your iPhone screen to be nothing but smudges.
Decide if you’re really going to compete in the bacon-eating contest: It’s held at the end of the day, which means it comes after seven hours of eating bacon. If you really want to win, you might want to not eat everything in sight. But then, when I competed, I didn’t follow that rule. I also didn’t win, or even come close.
