Baconfest 2016

This review is for Baconfest on Saturday Father's Day 2016. I bought tickets back in January when the event was first announced. I didn't realize the $25 ticket price didn't include anything other than admission. I was expecting a glass with the event name on it, a beer, some bacon, etc. I have coordinated large events and when you buy in bulk, you can get the price per item super low ($1.50 for a pint glass). I would recommend making that part of the price if they attempt this festival again. It took us about an hour to park at 10:30 am and we had quite a hike to the front gate. Nothing was clearly labeled and we stood in the wrong line for a long awhile. Someone showed up and started grabbing our printed tickets in her hand and yelled at us to "go have fun!" She didn't even look at our tickets or scan them. We spotted an information booth handing out brochures for the event. I saw a sign that said we needed tickets for "Bacon Alley", and then I saw the line for tickets, wow. It had to be 100 deep. Someone walking by said there was another line inside that was shorter, so we headed there. Well, the line in BaconAlley was even longer. I knew that couldn't be right, so I consulted the map and spotted a 3rd ticket booth near the main stage. We walked, again, to that booth which was much shorter. However after buying $40 of tickets, the first food vendor I went to didn't take tickets, only cash. *sigh*We headed back to Bacon Alley. The line for bacon was insane. We couldn't even find the end. So, we decided to go for a beer. They had 12 craft brews on tap and although the line was long, it moved pretty quickly. We sipped on our beers & checked out the car show. Thank goodness there was a breeze. The long lines and lack of shade were tiring. I got in line for the bacon mac & cheese and bourbon bacon shooter. They were pretty good but not great.I wanted to see Guy, so we again trekked back to the main stage. It was tough to hear what was going on but Guy was trying to keep it fun. A guy next to me said he had waited over an hour and a half for the bacon bouquet. No thanks. We were ready to leave but we were stuck with over $20 in tickets. We walked around and chose the maple bacon cupcake, cookie and 2 more beers. A chef was doing a homemade sausage demo, and there was a tiny bit of shaded seating for that. We got really lucky and found two seats. I enjoyed the presentation. We noticed a wine room on the way out and wanted to buy a bottle to go but were turned away, as they were only taking tickets. I was not getting back in that line - to get into another line. We were tired of masses of people, tickets, and lines, so we left at 2:00. From what I understand, I'm glad we left early. We had to drive around a field but we were able to get onto the freeway pretty easily after that. So, my thoughts are,The good: The demo/education stage. Add more of them. The maple bacon cupcake. The craft beer tent. Guy's enthusiasm. The car show. The kid areas looked great but we don't have any little ones, so we didn't go into them.The bad: The bacon bouquet tent - in a poor spot and under staffed. The lines. The unclear and confusing tickets/no ticket policies. The $25 ticket price.

Well... that was a waste of money! The rides were in poor condition and there was an overall lack of rides for kids under 12. The admission fee was 25 pp for what? The live music was also poor quality. There were more vendors than guests so we didn't have to wait in line, which is the only positive thing. The parking was disorganized. Overall I am disappointed. I will not be attending any more events like this. There are other cities in the Bay Area that have free admission with better quality rides and is more organized.

I was greatly disappointed in our time at the Del Osso Farms Baconfest 2016, which was our Father's Day outing. First of all, it was $25 bucks just to get in the door, then you still had to buy tickets to purchase any bacon or beer. Other organizations charge only a little bit more for everything to be all included.Then once purchasing the tickets for vendors, you realize that each beer is $6, wine is $9 and most (very small) samples of bacon food are $3-$5. That's pretty expensive and adds up real quick.There also was a fairly small selection of beer or wine. The lines for food were OUTRAGEOUS, and the popular items for the bacon treats were sold out and gone well before noon. The most popular booths (judged by the longest lines) had only one service window. For one popular treat, I watched and timed the action, and realized that the line was at least 1 hour and 20 minutes long.There were not many activities to do and the booths around were no different than your run of the mill fair booths and truly not exciting. There was also nowhere to really escape the heat or sun.The map that they provided really did not tell you what was offered and it really was not to scale for where things were either.We will not be attending this event again especially given the fact that there are way more bacon and beer festivals that are just a tad more that the entry ticket cost but are all inclusive, have more variety, and are better organized.Del Oso Farms did a terrible job with this event.

BACON BACON BACON!!!!! Fantastic event and something I will make time to attend every year!!! If you are a bacon lover, take some time and check this out.

Wonderful Event! Looking forward to attending again this year!

I can't wait for the next baconfest event at dell'Oso Farm, last year we had so much fun my wife couldn't Beleive people actually compete in bacon eating contests, we went there around 10pm it was Father's day I remember, there was a lot of people, I love the draft beer they sell, the food and there is even some attractions and rides for kids which are free. I do recommend this place to go with your family or friends, this is definitely a nice place to go with your kids and have some fun. I'll be there for baconfest 2017 for sure.

waiting in line fest is more like it. Got there at 10:30 and vendors were already out of food. It cost to get in, and then all you got was sample sizes portions for a lot of money, 3 tickets for 1jalapeno wrapped in an undercooked bacon strip. Will never go to this event again. Guy was only there for 20 mins on Saturday. total ripoff!!!!

Seeing the ads for the 2017 event brought back nightmares about the 2016. I won't be attending.Long lines (hours-long waits), expensive, lack of shade. Plus there was an admission fee that was a bit steep. It was an awful outting.

For a company that has been doing events like this for years, they totally failed at this one. First, the website said to avoid lines, buy tickets online. No problem. When I arrived at about 11:30, there was only one line for people buying tickets as well as those with their online tickets, printed out or on the phone. Stupid! No advantage to buying online as one still had to wait in the same line! Staff didn't care. Unprofessional and inconsiderate!After a twenty minute wait, that should have been zero minutes, headed to ticket stand to get tickets as all food and drink in bacon alley required tickets. Some food vendors at main stage area only take cash. Tickets are not refundable. No information about which vendors are where. Buy too many tickets and throw them away. Poor planning.Best part was the car show. Enjoyed that as it was well attended and organized.First impression for first year us that a lot more thought and planning needs to be put into the whole process. Poor execution!

Expensive to get in. Not enough shade. Confusing tickets or cash for food. We saw the bacon eating contest. Boring. No real info said about who was on stage as they pigged out. No info of who was ahead. Emcee kept moving into feedback and PA was inadequate for area to be covered. Guy Fieri was 15 minutes late so we all sat waiting in the sun. Then there wasn't much info on what was going on as the two chefs cooked. Judges were terrible. We left area before winner was announced because we were too hot. One news station interviewed a representative who said all kiddy rides were included in admission, but the pony rides weren't included. Not sure what else wasn't. Long likes for food. Hard to get around with lots of people just standing in the walkways. Parking lot was well organized, but admission with printed tickets was a fiasco. It was year one. Hopefully year two will be better.