Day of the Pig hits the beach

Jeff Green | May 17, 2017

The Day of the Pig, which was initially conceived as a small party to mark the opening of the Seed to Sausage store on Road 38 for the summer season four years ago, is about to become a major event at a new venue.

The beach at Sharbot Lake has hosted weddings, a Karaoke contest, Snow Drag races and is the permanent home of Canada Day festivities in Central Frontenac and a weekly summer farmer’s market, which opens this Saturday. This Sunday will be the first time the beach is being used for a large commercial event, and according to Mike McKenzie of Seed to Sausage, the site is well suited to the purpose.

“I had a designer come in and lay everything out for me and those plans can be used for future events at the beach,” he said.

Central Frontenac Township has come on board to support the event and is not charging rent for the site, but it was left to Seed to Sausage to finance it.

As in past years, a number of chefs have been invited in to help roast ten pigs and provide food for sale at kiosks, along with regional brewers and vineyards and some of the best local food producers from Frontenac and the surrounding region.

But with the new venue, the level and cost of entertainment has gone up, and the hours of the event have been lengthened as well.

In order to fit with Mckenzie’s carnival vision, one of the major acts that will be performing is the Blue Mushroom Psyshow with featured performers Miss BonBon Bombay, Angela Solo, István Betyár, and sword swallower and fire eater The Mighty Leviticus. Magician Eric Leclerc is the other featured performer. Musical acts include the Foley Mountain Playboys, Tom Savage and Marc Charron, who will perform with Jason Leen as the Jaymarcs.

With the event taking on such a new scale, there is an admission fee this year. It is $20 at the door, but advance tickets are $15 and are available through the event website dayofthepig.ca

Anyone under 18 years old will be admitted for free however, making it a family friendly event.

Even with the admission fee, McKenzie is not expecting to turn a profit this year.

“I’d like to see this event break even or make enough money to pay for an event organiser to run it next year,” he said.

To get to the Day of the Pig, take road 38 north to Sharbot Lake and look for the cars.