Kewanee Hog Days

Kewanee Hog Days is a four day festival that has run over Labor Day weekend every year since 1954. This year marks Hog Fest number 66! Those are the cold hard facts. But to most of us, Hog Days feels like more than just a few facts. As time has gone by, Hog Days feels comforting knowing that you can always count on a carnival and the world’s largest outdoor pork barbecue and mud volleyball and the flea market/craft show and the Model T and A Rally and the Hog Days Parade and a host of other activities over Labor Day weekend. Like Christmas, Hog Days just seems to happen every year and that feels sound! It feels good that the number of family reunions, get together and visits from friends that weekend has grown and, like Hog Days, has continued on without fail. Good memories of special moments over weekends past feel warm. The rides you rode and the fun you had in the 1950s, your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren enjoy now nearly seven decades later, giving a Hog Fest feeling of stability in a world that sometimes feels anything but that!

We got this feelin’ in our body that feels fun and joyful and relaxing and good that we hope to share with you August 30th thru September 2nd, 2019. Consider a visit to Kewanee, IL this year over Labor Day weekend.. There’s an abundance of food, festival and fun going on here all weekend long. As the song says, “can’t stop the feeling.” With Kewanee Hog Days, we “Can’t Stop the Squealin’!”

We’re excited to share with you that this year Kewanee Hog Days in conjunction with Kewanee Schools will be providing a shuttle service from downtown to the flea market/craft show at West Park. The shuttle will run on the hour and half hour from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, August 31st and Sunday, September 1st…loading in front of the hog festival building on Main Street (next to Community State Bank North) and unloading at West Park. Then loading at West Park for the return trip to the hog festival building uptown approximately every 30 minutes or so. The service is free but there will be a donation bucket on the bus if you wish to leave a “tip” to help defray costs. There is absolutely no obligation. Save on gas and your legs! Ride the Hog Days Pigmobile courtesy of Kewanee Community Unit School District 229!

A long awaited new entertainment venue is coming to Kewanee and is giving a special sneak preview over hog days weekend. The Reapers of Torment Company…or ROTCO for short!…will be opening its doors in the 300 block of North Main Street (just north and across the street from the hog days building) on Friday, August 30th from 7 pm to midnight; Saturday, August 31st from 7 pm to midnight and Sunday, September 1st from 7 pm to 11 pm. This is a professional haunted event. Although the sneak preview is open to all, it is not recommended for young children. Tickets are $10 each and this preview will serve to wet your haunted house appetite for the “unedited” version that will be coming up this fall closer to Halloween. This year’s hog days tagline “Can’t Stop the Squealin” is about to take on a whole new meaning!