CREDIT: FERLIN SOV DS
During the second weekend in July, main street in Lucan is taken over by motorcycles and vendors for the annual Baconfest to celebrate everything bacon and bikes. This year the event received a large grant to help make it an incredible year.

The unique bacon and bike event, Lucan Baconfest, is a recipient of one of the Celebrate Ontario 2018 grants.

Each year, Celebrate Ontario helps festivals and events financially by awarding a number of grants. The goal is to improve tourism within Ontario and encourage tourist spending in a number of communities.

According to Hogtown Cycles Co-Owner Teresa Burns, the Baconfest committee was awarded with $42,565 which will be used to grow the event.

Baconfest runs on the second weekend of July each year from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and this year it falls on July 14.

The event will feature unique bacon cuisine, live performances, beer gardens, a custom bike show and shine, Canada's only original Harley pull event and more.

“Baconfest offers a platform to highlight our community, its artists, businesses and organizations while regenerating opportunity for Lucan and surrounding communities,” Burns, said.

This year [2018] marks the fifth anniversary of Baconfest and the Celebrate Ontario grant will help them make it the most successful year yet.

The event has experienced rapid growth since its first year in 2013 and has now grown to be one of the biggest events in Southwestern Ontario in terms of unique single day attractions.

“Originally when we started Baconfest it was with our [Hogtown Cycles] summer open house and we saw 400 riders in the first year. When the town jumped on board it involved closing roads and we saw the attendance go really high and it has been doubling every year and we saw over 30,000 people in 2017,” Burns said.

The majority of the grant will go towards the entertainment aspect of the event and will work towards getting higher profile performers and enhanced stage effects.

Other areas it will benefit include a larger Hogland camping area, securing a Food Network celebrity to host Baconfest and enhancing the motorcycle shows.

In a news release by the Lucan Baconfest Committee, Mayor of Lucan Biddulph, Cathy Berghardt- Jesson has some words to share about the event and grant.

“Being awarded this Celebrate Ontario grant is a testimony to what a great community Lucan is. The additional funding allows us to make enhancements to the event, to welcome visitors to Lucan Baconfest, and showcase our community,” Berghardt-Jesson said.

The Baconfest event also works toward giving back to the community in a number of ways. This year marks the Second Annual Baconfest Breakfast Run which donates money to the Children's Hospital Bravery Bead Program.

Baconfest supports the Royal Canadian Legion in Lucan and allows the Lucan Lions to participate in the event and donate money back into the community.

There is an opportunity for people in the community and surrounding areas to volunteer for the event. To fill out the volunteer form visit hogtowncycles.ca or lucanbaconfest.ca.

“We greatly welcome volunteers because it takes a lot to put on this event. It is easy to organize but it takes a lot of volunteers to help run the day smoothly and we are pretty excited whenever we get volunteers,” Burns said.

To get more information about Baconfest visit the websites listed above or on Facebook @LucanBaconfest.