Barbecue Fanatics Flock to Hog Day

On Saturday morning, the paths at the annual fair were swarming with people as crafts vendors and food stands hawked their wares in the hot June sun.

The crowds ambled between the vendor's tents, sipping fresh-squeezed lemonade and munching on homemade potato chips, onion blossoms and the main attraction - local barbecue.

Thirty-seven teams cooked more than 9,000 pounds of pork on Friday night in preparation for the estimated crowd of more than 48,000 people.

Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Craig Lloyd said the success of this year's Hog Day helps put the area on the map.

"We've been featured in Time Magazine and in The New York Times," he said.

Birkenstock-clad college students in beer T-shirts and men with oversized belt buckles and camouflage baseball caps mingled with stroller-pushing moms as lines stretched from the two large tents selling the barbecue.

The sandwiches, served on buns donated by McDonald's, were snapped up by the bagful.

Nancy Evans, visiting her family in Durham from Texas made the drive to Hillsborough just for the barbecue. "I try and go to six or seven barbecue festivals every year but this is my favorite," she said between mouthfuls of sandwich.

Evans' three-year-old daughter, Parker, played in the grass while her mom kept a close watch, snacking on barbecue all the while. "There just isn't barbecue like this in Texas," she said. "But I wish there was some cole slaw on my sandwich." One of Hog Day's most popular attractions, the Best Dressed Hog Contest, had to be cancelled this year.

Because of the threat of hoof and mouth disease, and because people travel to Hog Day from Australia and Europe, there were no live hogs allowed at Hog Day. "Better safe than sorry," Lloyd said. "But we'll be over it by next year." But not everyone at Hog Day was there for the barbecue.

Melissa Lawson from Lexington, N.C., was attending her first Hog Day. She was selling china dolls and pewter figurines in a bright yellow tent around the corner from the Orange County Court House. Like many of the vendors at Hog Day, Lawson travels the state. year round to sell her dolls at different festivals.

"Hog Day isn't the largest festival I attend, but I'm having a really good time," she said. "I haven't really tried the barbecue yet and I probably won't. To be honest, I don't really eat much barbecue, not even in Lexington."

For the younger Hog Day participants, there were rides, a petting zoo, a dunking booth and the giant Tiger inflated in front of the 200-year-old Alexander Dickson house.

In addition to the crafts vendors and food stands, two sound stages provided live music and entertainment hosted by a local Elvis impersonator. Six different bands played over the course of the humid Saturday afternoon, serving up everything from beach music to swing.

Hog Day was started by the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce to raise money for its booster activities in 1991. Last year, Hog Day broke the Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Barbecue Festival. Activities included the area's largest Antique Car Show, educational exhibits and nonprofit booths and a baking contest.

Bill Hill can be reached at wbhill@unc.edu.