Iowa governor to pardon pig for annual bacon celebration

Bonnie is one lucky porker.

Kicking off Iowa's Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival next week, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will literally save a pig's bacon by pardoning Bonnie, a Berkshire sow, on Friday. Like a president granting a pardon to a turkey at Thanksgiving time, Branstad will join Bonnie on the steps of the governor's mansion and mandate that she is ensured a long life.

“Bonnie is a good little pig," said Bonnie's owner Nick Jones from Eden Farms, "and we’ll be happy to care for her as she feasts on grains and lives a long and fruitful life on the farm.”

The sixth-annual bacon festival, which boasts a "mission of improving the enjoyment of all things bacon by providing education, recognition, advocacy and research on behalf of the masses" will have its own Bacon Queen Pageant and a dance contest about bacon. Obviously, there will be a near-endless supply of Iowa's very own delicious red gold.

Not at all surprising, when the 8,000 tickets to the Iowa State Fairground celebration of all things bacon were made available online in December, they sold out in just three minutes.