The Big Bite Bacon Fest is returning to The Queen Mary on August 1-2, 2015. Dozens of local restaurants and chefs will offer culinary samples plus more than 15 local breweries will be sampling a variety of craft beers. Check out details of the 2015 Bacon Festival below plus READ about our 10 FAVORITE BACON DISHES from last year’s Bacon Festival below:
BACON FESTIVAL 2015 TICKETS:

2014 POST ON OUR EXPERIENCE AT THE BACON FEST:
Though the Bacon Fest was a first in Long Beach. Tickets were sold out for both noon and afternoon tastings. Not everyone serve bacon though, some were pork-inspired dishes. I did like most of the dishes except maybe one(BLT shots). They also had beer samplings, but our tickets were only for the food. There’s a booth selling lemonade but the ShareACoke caravan was also giving out free Coke, and I finally got to make a Coke can with our names on it. Sweet!!!
Out of everything we ate.. which was a lot. Here’s my Top 10 Favorite Bacon and Pork inspired dishes from the Bacon Festival arranged in the order of which I want to eat again, either at next year’s Bacon Festival(Yes, they are planning on a second one already). Or maybe I’d have to trek the restaurants from where the yummy dishes came from. Check my list below:
1. Pig Candy by BigMista’s
Thick slice of maple bacon with cayenne, brown sugar and pork rub. It was amazing. I wanted to get seconds. But by the time we finish our rounds on all the dishes. We were too full and the lines were already long. I’m still thinking about those bacon though!!!
2. The Queen Mary’s Mango Coconut Bacon Macaroon
Oh my.. Everyone is talking about this at the bacon festival. I’m a fan of regular macaroons but having tried this interesting combination of sweet and savory macaroons, there’s no looking back. I ate 4. I hope there was enough for everyone. Burp.
3. Slater 50/50’s Bacon Burger
This is my 3rd favorite, but the hubby considered this his favorite of all at the Bacon Festival. Imagine a burger patty with 50% beef and 50% bacon then topped with fried egg and another bacon slice. Need I say more?
4. “Eastern Style” Pulled Pork on Brioche by The Red Leprechan. I didn’t think it was gonna be good. Slow cooked pulled pork in a tangy East Carloina BBQ sauce with garlic aioli and warm slaw. It won me over at first bite.
5. Bacon Pop Tarts from The Prince and Pantry. Interesting combination. I wanted more but we were only half way through our tasting.
6. Chicharrones with Bacon & Hot Sauce by Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ. Chicharrones is chicharrones.. I’m not sure if you can do it wrong. But I don’t mind getting more to snack on, especially with bacon. They were frying this on site and the lines were also long. It would have been perfect if we had a beer with it.
7. Bacon Wrapped Cheese Poppers. I forgot by whom. But thank you. I love cream cheese on everything.

8. Dirty Ice from Whole Foods. I actually don’t have a close up picture of it. It was in a very small cup, I didn’t think it was gonna be good.. then bam.. what was that. Thumbs up Whole Foods, but you can let go of the gumbo if you do join again next year.:)
9. Jalapeno Bacon Mini Cupcake from Twisted Sweets. Just the right balance of sweet & spicy.
10. Bacon Sundae from Farrel’s Ice Cream Parlour. Who knew vanilla ice cream, fresh banana slices and bacon go together? It did. And I told the hubby I’m taking him to their restaurant on his birthday, since we’ve never been there and we’re such ice cream lovers.
The hubby said there was a good bacon taco too(where was my share? he ate it all?) and we missed out on the Hog Pocket from Dia de los Puercos, they were limiting the service so I couldn’t give it credit if credit is due.
Here are the other bacon dishes we tried:

We also received a swine swag bag, Got Porked t-shirt, personal beer cup and caddy. And Illy Coffee was outside giving out really yummy cold coffee concoctions.
I thought the event was great, music was upbeat. If you didn’t get the VIP entrance though, you might be stuck waiting for your food in very long lines. I hope they can improve on this next year. Including sampling the dishes that will be serve to make sure each one is great before the actual bacon festival.(I don’t mind volunteering to taste test them, haha). There were stuffs for kids to do and entrance to the Queen Mary ship was also free with your bacon fest tickets. All in all, I love the event and I look forward to attending again next year.
disclosure: we received tickets to attend the event. Content/Opinions are my own. Experiences may vary.
This festival looks amazing! I love bacon!
Bacon is the best, and this all looks amazing!
This looks great! I imagine the smell at this festival is wonderful. I also imagine this could clog an artery, but what a way to go. The chicharrones and pulled pork looks delicious.
wow amazing! I've never heard or seen any of these, most sound like something you could get at a fair, but much better!!! That's a whole lotta' yummy fun!!