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The smell of pulled pork, barbecue, and bacon will be the aroma on Adams Street, well before pigs can fly.
The Flying Pigs of Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) are hosting the first Toledo Pig Fest, a festival featuring food trucks and live entertainment, on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 11am to 7pm.
“Whether someone comes for the bacon, the music, the local restaurants or the flying-pig story, we want Pig Fest to feel like a celebration of Toledo,” said Michelle Greer, food truck organizer for the event. “It is designed to be fun, surprising and easy to experience with friends, family or a Sweetest Day date.”
The story of Toledo’s own flying pigs comes from when TSA was just a work in progress. When community leaders were working to establish TSA, a prominent Toledoan reportedly dismissed the possibility that the city would ever have a premier arts school, saying it would happen “when pigs fly.”
“Pig Fest gives us an opportunity to celebrate great food while also celebrating something much bigger: the belief that Toledo can accomplish things other people once thought were impossible,” said Dave Gierke, development director for TSA. “This is a festival with a sense of humor, but it also has a distinctly Toledo story and a great deal of heart behind it.”
Local food trucks, participating restaurants and vendors will all have exclusive Pig Fest items to complete this pig-themed event.
Participating food trucks include Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Jamaican Spice on Wheels, Deets BBQ, Smokey’s BBQ and many more.
The idea for Pig Fest came after festival organizers saw the success of Pickle Mania in the city.
“We’re inviting Toledo to trade pickles for pigs and see what our local chefs and food-truck operators can do with bacon,” said Cheryl Hardy with Party in the Park and Destination Downtown activation initiatives.
More information on food trucks, vendors, participating restaurants and a map will be announced on the festival’s Facebook page prior to the event.
To keep updated with all things Pig Fest, go to Toledo Pig Fest on Facebook.
