Elgin's Hogeye Festival Brings Three Free Days of Sausage, Music and Cow Patty Bingo
The 39th Hogeye Festival runs Oct. 22-24 in downtown Elgin, with a hog-calling contest, a dessert contest, a Friday street dance and a full Saturday of music, barbecue and kids' events.
Elgin is about to throw its biggest party of the year, and the whole thing is built on sausage, music, volunteers and a cow with good timing.
The 39th annual Hogeye Festival runs Oct. 22 through 24 in downtown Elgin. The city's Main Street Program puts it on, and the city's festival page says admission is free.
Thursday and Friday
Things start Thursday, Oct. 22, with the Hogeye Stroll from 5 to 9 p.m. The Pearls Before Swine Art Show opens that evening with a gala sponsored by the Elgin Art Association. Smash Daddies hosts a hog-calling contest with categories for cutest, loudest and best overall call. Registration starts at 5 p.m., entry is by donation, and all ages are welcome. The Elgin Run Club also hosts the Hogeye Hustle, a glow-in-the-dark 5K.
On Friday, Oct. 23, the Hogalicious Dessert Contest is set for the HTC Freight Depot, 114 Central Avenue. There are adult and youth divisions plus a category for best decorated cake. Registration begins at 5 p.m., judging starts at 7, and winners are announced at 8. After judging, the public can sample the entries.
That night brings a free street dance on Depot Street. Salt Flat Blvd plays at 8 p.m., followed at 10 p.m. by hometown favorite Rian Castillo and Texas Indigo.
Saturday is the big day
The main festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. The city lists:
handmade arts and crafts;
food vendors and concessions;
live music on two stages;
the Lindsy Kay Wing Children's Pet Parade;
a kids' zone and game alley;
the Lucky Old Scoundrel's Bike Show and a Dunk a Hero/Scoundrel booth;
the Gordon E. Swenson BBQ Pork Cook-Off;
Cow Patty Bingo; and
two appearances by the Sowpremes.
If you have never played Cow Patty Bingo, the city explains it plainly. Prizes depend on where a cow does her business. The festival page sums it up: "splatter matters in this game."
Parking and the shuttle
A free festival shuttle runs Saturday from SPJST Hall #18 at 702 N. Highway 95. The buses are wheelchair accessible, the city says, and a shuttle flyer lists service from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Southside Market in Elgin, 2008. Photo: Dave / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Built by the town
The festival is more than a weekend of pig puns. According to the city's festival fact sheet, more than 100 local volunteers, called "hogunteers," help set up and run it each year. The festival is the main fundraiser for the Elgin Main Street Program. Proceeds go toward local businesses, public art, historic preservation, beautification, community events and economic development downtown.
"It is not just an event that happens in Elgin," the fact sheet says. "It is an event that is built by Elgin."
That is the kind of thing worth driving out for. A small town that feeds its neighbors, lets the kids parade their pets and turns the proceeds back into its own Main Street is doing something right. Volunteers are still welcome. The city asks would-be hogunteers to email [email protected]. Festival questions go to the Hogeye line at 737-666-5635.
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