Virginia Bacon Festival

I agree with most of the people who attended the 2013 Bacon Fest, but I have to say 2014 was a VAST improvement on last year’s traffic jam. There were more samples, small lines, and a great selection of food and beer to try. While Smithfield’s bacon tent was notably absent, the other sample tents more than made up for it. My friends and I had a lot of fun this year!

Not worth the time or money. For here at 10:30, did not let us in till 11:15. Not worth the tune out money

Virginia Bacon Festival was OK. I was pretty excited to come to the event. If you love to swine and dine, this was a nice starter for your taste buds. My favorite item here was the chowder with jalapeño cornbread from the Surf Shop. That chowder was off the chain (thanks Joe)!! One item I think should get a special note was Bacon Bloody Mary. I was skeptical at first, but after drinking my sample and tapping the bottom of the cup so I could get the remainder bacon bits I was impressed with the taste. The other vendors there were okay. Samples were small and had a higher potential for giving you a nasty taste in your mouth rather than prompt you to get the full version. Every vender sold some of their menu items that looked pretty good.
It was pretty hot outside and would have been good to have tents to block the sun but to their defense it’s hardly ever that hot at this time of year. But on the same note there didn’t seem to be a plan for rain at all which if that was established it could’ve made being outside at the festival a little more bearable.
Sadly, I was a little disappointed. I expected a little more in quantity and quality. Overall it was Aight.

Worst festival ever. Please hire Festevents to organize this event if you plan on doing this on the future. The beer glass sample was a shot glass and the bacon sample made you feel like you were a scavenger. Lines were long, the ticket price was crazy for what we received. Quite frankly, it was a little rednecky. Embarrassed to say we went. Get your act together.

I had a blast! Some samples I liked others I did not. The bands were awesome! I usually do not leave feedback but when I see low scores for hot weather, long lines and lack of seating. … It was over 100 at boardwalk, I’ve waited in longer lines at the wine fest. I could go on. Stop being so petty and negative. Yes, it needs some work but for a first time festival I thought it was pretty good.

Man, what a disappointment! I shrieked in excitement when I found out this festival was going on, mustered up a free ticket from Unilocal and drug my hubs and son out on an unseasonably hot October day. We got there, and it was a $ 25 fee for my husband to get in. No big deal, until we got to all the booths and found that everything required cash. Was the admission fee donated to breast cancer? If it wasn’t, than it was an absolute waste of money because he got nothing from it. Maybe, half of the vendors had samples, and the samples that were offered were tiny pinner ass bites that left much to be desired. Half of the food that you could purchase was sold out, and it wasn’t even 1:00pm. So basically this extravagant, hyped up festival of food, ran out of food, not even 2 hours into the festivities. What the hell? I wasn’t too pissed, at first, since my ticket was free, but that didnt even do me any good because im pregnant and cant drink. I also couldn’t even use the VIP seating since my husband and son did not have the same ticket as I did, so they could not come in the gated area, so we walked around trying to push a stroller through hundreds of thousands of other hungry, irritated patrons, looking for SOMETHING to put in our mouths. I was pissed. I literally had one piece of bacon and half a pork taco. That’s it. I cant even give a review on the samplings because I couldn’t even get to them. This entire event seemed wildly unorganized, understaffed and just boring. Whoever is in charge here needs to seriously rethink things if they plan on having any success in the future.

90 degrees in October… I felt like a piece of bacon that day. Thankful for the Wells Fargo building and the shade it provided.
Thankfully me and my sister got there when the festival opened so we were able to try most of the samples, some of those were small. I felt bad for the people who were coming in when we left as it seemed they ran out of samples before 2pm. I am sorry but if your going to make everyone pay to attend, it needs to be everyone’s worth while and the vendors need to make sure to have enough to last the entire festival. My fave samples were the bacon-​wrapped curry dogs by Stuft, some kind of meat wrapped in bacon by Belmont (I think it was sausage), Rock shrimp and Bacon chowder and the bacon from Smithfield foods. There was also samplings of cocktails with bacon salt and bacon flavored alcohol. The rum & coke was tasty. Also sampled bacon jam, which was good and bought a jar of it.
We did the $ 10 combo plates from Belmont and Todd’s Bistro:
Belmont = Candied bacon, pork wings, pork rinds, ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ slider
Candied bacon was the best, slider was undercooked.
Todd’s Bistro = Bacon wrapped pork belly, peanuts & bacon in BBQ sauce, Crab & bacon colesaw, bacon mac n’cheese, Bacon&Choc Chip cookie. That Crab & bacon coleslaw was the best thing I had during the festival.
Also got a bowl of the Rock shrimp and bacon chowder, it wasn’t so hot outside I probably would have eaten multiple bowls of that stuff.
Luckily for me and my sister we bought our tickets a week before the festival at the Scope box office and they were only $ 22.
I was really really excited for this festival since me, hubby and another couple had gone to Richmond’s first Bacon festival back in June. Even though it was crowded and hot as well that day, but then again it was June. it was free and everything was pretty much $ 3. Don’t get me wrong that festival had their problems as well, but we had gotten there when it started so we were able to try a few things and left when it started getting really crowded. Thankfully I was not in the mood to drink because that beer line was ridiculous when we left. They needed to be in a bigger venue.
At least my ticket money went to a good cause, otherwise I would be a little more upset.
Hopefully the organizers will learn from this experience have a better one next year, if there is a next year.

Waste. of. money.
I was really looking forward to this event, but it was VERY disappointing. We arrived at about 1:30, not even halfway into the festivities and well over ¾ of the vendors were out of samples. Smoked Out, Todd Jurich, Bite, Belmont, Cotton, Twisted Sister, all of them were out of samples, as well some of their menu items. So I just spent $ 20 to walk around and listen to incredibly loud music. Had a $ 4 limeade from Belmont (I think) that was basically just 2 limes and water. Thanks.
Additionally, a lot of the staff at the booths were rude when we came by looking for samples, but chose not to buy their other food.
The Bacon eating challenge took place on the ground, while 2 dudes shouted at the contestants from the stage, unless you were up there, you couldn’t see anything. Serious half-​assery on the part of the organizers. Put the contestants on the stage so everyone could actually see what was going on.
For an event like this, you either charge at the door, or you charge at the stands, but not both. I felt angry and ripped off when I left.

Bacon festival. The name in itself provides excitement to foodies. Unfortunately, I don’t think it lived up to many people’s expectations. I think the idea of the event is fantastic, but execution of it could still use some work. The weather didn’t help much either since it was a lot hotter than is to be expected for October. To be fair, this is the first year the event has been held so I hope they listen to the feedback people provide to make it a bigger success for next year and then on.
First, the entrance fee was stated to be $ 20. Well it was actually $ 20 + $ 6 service fee if you bought your ticket at the door. This gets you inside, a double shot glass to try some beers, and a chance to get free samples. That’s it. If you want to try actual portions of food, you had to pay about $ 5-​$ 10 to get something decent. Drink tickets were also $ 5 per ticket. I think if you wanted to get the full experience, you had to lay out about $ 40-​$ 50 — too pricey compared to other festivals in my opinion.
My boyfriend and I hit up the Cotton tent for a bite to eat since the Belmont line was wayyyyy toooo long with how hungry we were. I got the basket of bacon (pictured) which is exactly how it sounds. It was actually more smokey than salty compared to the other bacon samples I got to try. He got chicken fried bacon with gravy (pictured). That is the stuff that leads you to a food guilt trip. It was alright. I found it too be almost too salty to even eat. Meanwhile, he found some pieces to not even be fully cooked. We wanted to get some chocolate covered bacon for some dessert, but it was all out by the time we got in line… Sad face. A lot of places actually ran out of stuff a couple hours before the event was supposed to be done.
Overall, I think you could get your money’s worth if you had your own bacon fest in your house if they continue to price it as they did for the future.

Hit all the tents for the free samples more than several times to justify the $ 30 admission fee. Hung out by the Smithfield tent and the ladies there were very generous with the bacon samples. I expected more unique and interesting bacon mixes. Bacon fest can only improve from here

It wasn’t what I expected. It was EXTREMELY hot! How much Bacon can you really serve from 11−5pm? I thought there were going to be more involvement other than just walking around sampling and purchasing bacon items, but it wasn’t. But hey, it was for a good cause. I probably wouldn’t go again, maybe if they had different scheduled events and better organization with lines and discounts.

I doubt anyone could have been more excited than me that we were having a bacon festival, but wow, what a complete and utter disappointment. If I hadn’t gotten my ticket for free and enjoyed some free beer in the VIP section, I probably would have given it only 1 star.
I brought a friend of mine out for this beautiful day expecting to get some fine and tasty bacon treats, but that didn’t really happen. She paid $ 28 for her ticket at the gate. Once we got in, we realized that we needed cash for everything! Well, we plugged around and finally found an ATM down by the parking deck and then had to go back around to get back in – again. As I went around to all the vendors, I saw signs that said «Samples» but there were NO SAMPLES – NO SAMPLES at 12:30! How could they be out at 12:30 when they just opened at 11??! So, I busted out 10 bucks for a platter at Todd Jurich’s tent since I really wanted to try the bacon wrapped pork belly – there was only one scallop-​sized bite of that on the plate – big boo but at least it was yummy. My friend wasn’t VIP, so I could’t bring her in to sit at a table — there were no tables outside of VIP except for a few standing tables. Now this is a freakin food fest, so why are there no tables or even places to sit. People were seated all the way around the fountain and we finally got some guy to move so we could sit and eat our pork belly and mac & cheese. After a while, I did get some drink samples and my favorite was the BLT & Gin, which was perfectly refreshing on this 85 degree sunny day. I also thought the Starr Hill Pumpkin Porter was pretty smooth and delish and I will probably buy some more this season – I noticed they only had that in the VIP section – weird.
If the people in charge of this event don’t make some serious changes, then there is no need to have another one. This was highly unorganized and ridiculously expensive – and I barely got any bacon out of the deal. Isn’t that what I was there for? If you are going to charge people a lot to get in, then you better really have some samples out there. This was supposed to be all about tasting from all the local restaurants and it should have been mostly covered by the pricey ticket. If you plan on having people pay for most of the food, then the ticket needs to be much more reasonable – like 10 bucks. Just figure out what kind of festival you are going to be – sampling with a more expensive ticket or pay per item with cheaper ticket – you can’t be both. So sad that this event that could have been the ultimate bacon experience clearly was the furthest thing from it.

Well… This was a special event with both some highs and some lows to report.
First things first. It was unseasonably hot for the 5^th of Oct. It reached 90 degrees yesterday and there is just no way anyone could have predicted any day during the fall would be that hot. I think the heat played a big part in often miserable atmosphere yesterday. The VBF was held outdoors on the plaza between Scope and Chrysler Hall with tents wrapped around the fountain and a VIP area (more on that later) in the far corner by Monticello Ave & East Charlotte St. The majority of the plaza is made up of a pale red brick and it was like standing on a frying pan the entire time. Nothing but heat with very little shade provided by the Wells Fargo building while it lasted.
I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the food. The vendors were offering samples and selling full portions. I’ll be the first to agree that the samples were smaller than I’ve seen at these type of food events in the past, but hey, they’re samples and you can get as many as you want. I was there from 11:30am to about 4pm and the only time II stood in longer than 5 minutes was in a beer line. I visited about 80% of the tents and all of the lines moved at a decent speed no matter whether you were sampling or buying a full portion.
Now for the prices. I paid $ 27 bucks for my VIP ticket. We had table #1 in the VIP area. $ 27 bucks to sit in the sun and fry all afternoon. This was without a doubt the most pitiful VIP area I’ve ever seen. Some umbrella’s at the tables would have made all the difference in the world. Again I understand that the weather couldn’t be anticipated, however if it had rained, your VIP’s would have been soaking wet. Seriously poor planning on the event coordinators part. Let me tell you what a VIP ticket afforded you at this event… «A Chair» The only chairs in the entire place were in the VIP area. There was also a bottle of wine in the center of the table in a bucket with some decorative paper wrapped around it. No cork screw though. No staff walking around except the couple of people keeping the non-VIP’s out of the fenced in area. It was just a fenced in area with chairs. Pretty ridiculous.
Let’s talk about the good stuff. I sampled some really good food. I want to start off with Surf Club from Va Beach. They were dishing out a Rock Shrimp & Bacon Clam Chowder with a bacon infused corn bread that was just out of this world. Despite the hot weather I went for the bowl of this awesome chowder and wasn’t disappointed. The bowl cost $ 3 and was worth every penny. I had two samples of the corn bread with it dipping the first one, and using the second one to sop up the rest of the bowl when it was finished. Simply outstanding!
From Todd Jurich’s tent I sampled the bacon wrapped pork belly. Meh… it was alright. I stopped by there later however and had a bacon wrapped hot dog and some iced tea. That was good. Nothing great, but it was good. They were out of the Bacon Mac & Cheese the first two times I went by so I kept my eye’s open and was eventually rewarded about 3pm with some. Unfortunately it was nothing to write home about. The only bacon was at the very bottom and it looked like it had been boiled and added to the mac & cheese, not cooked with it.
The Belmont tent was hawking super tiny shots. The Jack Daniels BLT was interesting (Jack, Tabasco and some bacon) and there was another darker colored shot that was actually better. However I didn’t catch the name. They were also selling burgers and dogs with bacon of course. Nothing special here either.
The Smithfield tent was the place to go if you just wanted bacon. They were loading napkins up with big tasty crunchy pieces and really you could have just sipped beer and eaten bacon here all afternoon and been perfectly content.
There were other samples I tried as well, but I’m not going to call those vendors out other than to say that you can put bacon on any piece of food. However that doesn’t make it great. The vendors that took the time to infuse their dishes with bacon batted a perfect game, the others didn’t. It was nice seeing local brewery’s supporting the cause as well. Smartmouth & O’Connor stand out as always!
Whoever organized this event I hope you pay close attention to the reviews here and at other social media sites. There were a lot of disgruntled bacon fans yesterday. Your entry fee was to high for regular visitors and VIP’s alike, and I’ll bet all the vendors paid an arm and a leg to have a booth as well, which is why some of their prices were high. The VIP area was a joke and everyone felt ripped off. If you intend to have this be an annual event, I suggest doing it at Townpoint Park or Lafayette Park next time around. People like the feeling of grass under their feet, some shade or a breeze off the water helps a great deal and if you can’t provide enough seating they could at least bring a lawn chair for themselves.

It was the worst festival I have been to in years. The sample sizes were degrading, the lines were ridiculous and the tickets were over priced for such a lousy event. I will not be attending next year.

It was a nice festival. Good vendors and entertainment was good. Nice weather but very warm outside. Plenty of samples and the Smithfield vendor had a photo booth.

I guess you could say my expectations were too high. After waiting in line for 10 to 15 min. And getting a piece of bacon that was seriously a size of an aunt I felt so degraded. We paid about $ 50 for 2 people and you got nothing. Most of the «good» samples we had to pay extra for and it was Totally not worth our money. Not impressed with the first annual. Hopefully they will improve in the future because I do love me some of that bacon!