the Pork Festival

For those of you who grew up in small towns, you can probably appreciate a festival. I grew up where there were several to choose from. The Apple Festival in Niles, where I was born. The Atlanta Earth Festival (Indiana, not Georgia). And the Tipton Pork Festival. As a member of my high school marching band, I marched in both parades at the Tipton Pork Festival. One was Thursday evening, marking the opening of the festival and the other was Saturday, when it was a much bigger parade (about an hour and a half long). The Tipton Pork Festival is known for, well you guessed it, pork. Local, Hoosier pork.

Only recently did I discover that the Pork Tenderloin sandwich is an Indiana thing. It happened when Heather and I went to visit Stephanie at Culver Academy in Culver, Indiana. We dubbed it "Chilton", and enjoyed at lunch at "Luke's" Diner. Not really. In fact I think it was called Rosie's... I can't remember. I was going to get a simple BBQ pulled pork sandwich, and then I saw it. The Pork Tenderloin. As I screeched in excitement, Stephanie and Heather thought I was nuts. That was when I realized they had no idea what I was excited about. This was something that was a monthly lunch staple all throughout my school days. It was part of the Pork Festival. Everyone knows what a pork tenderloin is. Or at least that it's a sandwich. Nope. Only those in Indiana know the delicious-ness of the tenderloin sandwich. That was when I realized not only was this an "Indiana" thing, but also that I had not attended the Pork Festival since 1999. It was time to go back.

The 40th Pork Festival was held the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September. I made it to my parents on Thursday night. On Saturday morning, we had our plans laid out. Dad still helps out with the Hamilton Heights Marching Band, and he left before 11am to go to the school. Mom and I went and watched Skylar play soccer. Then we headed up to Tipton.

The Pork Festival takes place around the Courthouse. I believe that all the courthouses in Indiana were built on a square. The town square, if you will. The four streets that surround the courthouse are completely taken over with food tents, trailers, merchandise tents, and people. The roads are closed around the square, and then closed off for the parade (sadly, I don't remember how long the parade route is... it's not too long unless it's a really hot day)


Our first stop was the Pork Tent. Mom got the BBQ pork sandwich and I headed over to find my Pork Tenderloin. My favorite toppings include: mayo and pickles. I will also eat it with tomatoes and lettuce. As you can see, it is pounded flat, breaded and then fried. And is much bigger then the bun! It was as good (even better) then I remember!

Then we headed over to find a good spot to watch the parade. The weather was perfect. It was in the mid-seventies, small clouds dotted the bright blue sky and there was a light breeze.

There are several bands that come from two counties to march in the parade. I'm pretty biased, but HHHS band looked the best this year! They were the biggest (that was not always the case back in my day), best dressed and sounded the best. We always complained about our brown top/white bottomed uniforms, but compared to Noblesville's all black, I'll take the brown and white all over again!

Here is one of the many Pigs in the parade!

Yup! Even an elk make an appearance. Yes, it's a real elk. Only to an elk can you say, "check out his rack!"

The man in the motorized wheel chair turned before I snapped the picture, I was trying to get his shirt which read, "When Pigs Fly"... And if you can tell, that is a flying pig on his head.

These were spray painted on the ground all around pointing to the Pork Tent! Just in case your nose was confused.

My favorite sight of the day was while we were eating. I was facing towards the outside of the tent. The Italian Sausage cart was very lonely. People don't go to the Pork Festival to eat Italian Sausages. All the vendors who had pork, corn and drinks had long lines. My favorite part of the day was when I got my elephant ear! Yum! Those are my favorite at any festival!

Just so you know, I was going to plan my next festival trip to the famous Popcorn Festival in Valparaiso, Indiana. When I visited the website, much to my disapointment did I find out that it is the same Saturday as the Pork Festival.... Next year there will be some strategic planning.

Here's to Pork, the other white meat