With barbecue sauce and competition on their minds, Hillsborough residents are getting ready to pig out a little earlier than normal this year.
The Hillsborough-Orange County Chamber of Commerce has moved its annual Hog Day festival to the third weekend in May — a month earlier than previous years — to avoid hot summer temperatures at the town’s primary fundraising event.
Hog Day, the county’s largest festival, is entering into its 29th year in downtown Hillsborough. The event began as a bake sale that was traditionally held in late June, said Margaret Cannell, executive director of the chamber of commerce.
“The temperature has risen about seven degrees over the last 10 years on the third Saturday in June,” she said. “Not only has it gotten hotter, but more people are now used to having air conditioning than when Hog Day started 28 years ago.”
Cannell said the town has seen a slight decrease in attendance at the free festival, which typically draws more than 15,000 visitors each year.
But the town has been receptive to the new date of the festival, which is funded mostly by sponsors and costs anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000 to organize, she said.
When the festival is over, Cannell said the chamber of commerce generally nets between $15,000 and $20,000 from the event.
The two-day festival begins on May 20 when 35 teams of cookers from around the state arrive to prepare 3,500 pounds of pork. It is cooked overnight and then chopped and sold by vendors the next day, when people can vote for their favorite recipe.
Hog Day also boasts a variety of local bands, children’s games, arts and crafts and a vintage car show.
