Delaware County Iowa Bacon-N-Hops Fest Festival
Some festivals are built around a harvest or an anniversary; Manchester built one around breakfast and beer. In early August, this Delaware County seat has hosted a gathering devoted to bacon-inspired cooking and to hops poured by breweries and home brewers, an event the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce organises and hosts. The surviving record is specific rather than long: three dated editions — twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen, twenty twenty-two — each described by a different kind of source. Together they sketch a festival with a clear identity: food worth sampling, music on the programme, and a car cruise rolling through the same weekend.
About the Bacon-N-Hops Fest
The event circulates under three printed name forms. A food-festival directory and a local radio guide both call it the “Bacon-N-Hops Fest”. A chamber profile of the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce lists it as the “Bacon-N-Hops Festival” among the events the chamber organises and hosts. A car-club account of the twenty sixteen cruise weekend prints a third styling, “Bacon ‘N Hops Festival”. The doubled ending in the sheet title, with “Fest” and “Festival” stacked together, appears in none of those layers, so the body of this article uses the published forms.
What the festival is comes through most clearly in the twenty twenty-two accounts. A local radio guide and a food-festival directory describe a Saturday of sampling: bacon-inspired foods to taste, and hops from various breweries and home brewers to try alongside. Live entertainment formed part of the same day, and the festival coincided with the Country Car Cruise and Motorcycle Trials, so a cruise weekend’s machinery shared the date with the cooking and the pouring.
The chamber’s hand is documented two ways: a newsletter for chamber executives quotes the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce’s executive director describing the festival, and the chamber profile counts the Bacon-N-Hops Festival among the events it organises and hosts. This is a chamber-run occasion, not a private promotion — one measure of how rooted the event is in its host town.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Published names | Bacon-N-Hops Fest; Bacon-N-Hops Festival; Bacon ‘N Hops Festival — the doubled ending in the sheet title appears in no layer read |
| Host town | Manchester, Iowa |
| County role | County seat of Delaware County |
| Organiser | Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce |
| Documented editions | Twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen and twenty twenty-two |
| Usual timing | Early August |
| Setting | Delaware County Fairgrounds for the twenty twenty-two edition, per a local radio guide; downtown Manchester along the Maquoketa River Trail near the White Water Park, per a regional trails layer |
| Food and drink | Samples of bacon-inspired foods, plus hops from various breweries and home brewers, per the twenty twenty-two guides |
| Admission | Twenty-five dollars at the gate, or five dollars for the music portion only, per a food-festival directory’s twenty twenty-two listing and no other layer |
History
The earliest dated account comes from a regional magazine layer covering twenty sixteen: the Bacon-N-Hops Festival on the thirteenth and fourteenth of August, folded into the Country Cruisers car cruise weekend, with music sessions on both days. A car-club account adds a piece of geography the magazine lacks: the cruise ended at the festival in downtown Manchester. The first documented appearance already shows the festival’s two lasting companions — music and cruising cars — sharing the bill.
For a useful comparison, see the Decatur County Iowa Lamoni Fall Fest Festival for another county festival.
Two years later, a newsletter for chamber executives billed the twenty eighteen gathering as the festival’s fourth year, placed it on Saturday the eleventh of August in Manchester, and quoted the chamber’s executive director describing the occasion. That “fourth year” wording is a billing, treated here as nothing more: it shows how the event presented itself in a season, not the year it began, and no layer read supplies a founding year in plain terms. By twenty eighteen the festival was plainly established and recurring; its beginnings sit earlier than the surviving descriptions reach.
The fullest picture arrives in twenty twenty-two, when a local radio guide and a food-festival directory both covered the edition of Saturday the sixth of August, recording the sampling format, the live entertainment, and the company it kept that day: the Country Car Cruise and Motorcycle Trials. The radio guide sets that edition at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. A regional trails layer, by contrast, places the event in downtown Manchester along the Maquoketa River Trail near the White Water Park, and the car-club account of twenty sixteen likewise ends its cruise downtown. Those venue accounts stand here side by side, each attached to its own source; merging them would invent a certainty the record does not contain.
Manchester is the constant underneath: the county seat of Delaware County, named as host by every layer even where they differ on the grounds. Described independently by a magazine, a trade newsletter, a radio guide and a directory across six years, it looks like a recurring feature of the town’s August, not a one-season novelty.
What to Expect
The twenty twenty-two edition, the most completely described, shows the festival’s character best. Its centre of gravity was the sampling table: bacon-inspired foods — dishes built around bacon rather than merely accompanied by it — and hops from various breweries and home brewers, putting commercial craft and kitchen-table brewing on the same footing. The directory’s listing also separated the music portion from the full ticket, showing that live entertainment was substantial enough to sell as an attraction in its own right.
That entertainment shared the day with engines: the twenty twenty-two festival coincided with the Country Car Cruise and Motorcycle Trials, so a Saturday could move between tasting lines and cruise traffic, between a stage and a trials course. Twenty sixteen shows the same pattern from the other side — the festival inside the Country Cruisers cruise weekend, music on both days, the cruise ending at the festival. Cars are woven into the weekend’s structure, not decoration.
Where a visitor would stand depends on which account is followed: the radio guide puts the twenty twenty-two edition at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, while the trails layer describes the event downtown along the Maquoketa River Trail near the White Water Park.
Planning Your Visit
The three editions all sit in early August: the thirteenth and fourteenth of August in twenty sixteen, Saturday the eleventh of August in twenty eighteen, and Saturday the sixth of August in twenty twenty-two. That consistency makes early August the window to watch, though the layers stop at twenty twenty-two and none announces a later date, so current arrangements need confirming locally before a trip.
The record’s only price information comes from one source: the food-festival directory’s twenty twenty-two listing, stating tickets at the gate of twenty-five dollars, with the music portion only at five dollars. No other layer gives a figure, and those numbers belong to that edition’s terms, not to any standing price — a guide to scale, not a promise.
Because the venue accounts differ, the practical move is to check which setting the current edition uses — fairgrounds or downtown — before choosing where to arrive. Either way, the cruise activity sharing the day makes the streets part of the occasion.
A Sample Day at the Festival
A day shaped by the twenty twenty-two accounts might begin at the gate with the sampling lines — bacon-inspired dishes to work through methodically, since a festival built on one ingredient rewards pacing. The hops deserve their own pass: comparing a polished commercial pour with a home brewer’s experiment is the kind of contrast the event exists to offer.
Midday belongs to the overlap: the Country Car Cruise and Motorcycle Trials shared the date, so the hours between tastings can go to chrome, engine noise and a cruise weekend’s slow movement through a small Iowa town. The live entertainment runs through the day, and a music-only ticket holder, on the directory’s terms, would build the day around the stage instead.
By late afternoon, the older account offers a rhythm worth borrowing: in twenty sixteen the cruise ended at the festival downtown, so the day’s currents converged on the event rather than draining away.
How the Festival Compares
The name invites confusion in at least one direction, so the boundaries are worth drawing. A bacon and beer festival is also held in Manchester, New Hampshire — a different event, in a different state, sharing nothing with the Iowa occasion but a host-town name and a fondness for the same two ingredients.
Within Iowa, the Riverview Bacon and Brew Fest in Clinton and a bacon festival in Ottumwa are separate events with their own towns and organisers; neither is a satellite of the Manchester festival, nor is it an outpost of theirs. What distinguishes the Manchester occasion is its documented blend: a chamber-run sampling festival sharing its weekend with a car cruise and motorcycle trials, in a county seat rather than a larger city.
Festival Checklist
- Watch for an early August date, the window all three documented editions occupy
- Confirm the current edition’s setting, since sources describe both the fairgrounds and downtown
- Treat the twenty twenty-two figures as a rough guide only — twenty-five dollars at the gate, five for music only
- Plan to sample widely but lightly, since bacon-inspired dishes are rich by design
- Give the home brewers’ hops the same attention as the breweries’ pours
- Leave time for the car cruise and motorcycle trials sharing the day
- Catch a live entertainment set, treated in the programme as a headline element
- Walk the Maquoketa River Trail near the White Water Park if the downtown setting is in use
Beyond the Festival
Manchester gives a visitor more than the festival grounds, on the record’s own showing. The trails layer maps its setting along the Maquoketa River Trail near the White Water Park, making the river corridor a natural extension of the day — a walk between tastings, or a quieter hour after the cruise traffic settles. The fairgrounds, the radio guide’s setting for twenty twenty-two, are the other pole of the town’s gathering life, and downtown — where the twenty sixteen cruise ended — is the third, a centre accustomed to absorbing an event rather than hosting it at arm’s length.
Why the Festival Matters
Strip the record down to what it proves and a clear shape remains. A county seat’s chamber built a festival from two pleasures its region produces well — cured pork from farm country, and hops from a brewing culture running from commercial breweries down to home brewers — and paired the tasting with the car culture that already owned an August weekend in town. The result, documented independently across three editions, presents itself as established: billed as a fourth year by twenty eighteen, and covered by a radio food guide and a festival directory by twenty twenty-two.
For Delaware County, that matters practically. A chamber festival draws visitors into the seat’s streets and grounds, gives regional brewers and cooks a table to stand behind, and gives the town a signature of its own — no other Iowa event in the record combines this exact trio of bacon, hops and cruise machinery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the hops in the festival’s name come from?
According to the local radio guide and the food-festival directory that covered the twenty twenty-two edition, the hops were served as samples drawn from various breweries and home brewers alike, so the “hops” half of the name refers to what was poured and tasted at the event, not to one brewery’s showcase.
Which name does the festival actually use?
Three forms appear in print, none of them the doubled form in the sheet title: “Bacon-N-Hops Fest” in a food-festival directory and a local radio guide, “Bacon-N-Hops Festival” in a chamber profile, and “Bacon ‘N Hops Festival” in a car-club account of the twenty sixteen weekend. The differences are styling between sources; the event behind them is one Manchester festival.
What shares the weekend with the festival?
Cars, in every detailed account. Twenty sixteen formed part of the Country Cruisers car cruise weekend, the cruise ending at the festival in downtown Manchester; twenty twenty-two coincided with the Country Car Cruise and Motorcycle Trials. Expect the Saturday to be shared with cruise traffic and trials machinery, not given over to food alone.
What is the earliest edition the record describes?
The dated descriptions reach back to twenty sixteen, when a regional magazine covered it within a cruise weekend. By twenty eighteen a chamber newsletter was billing it as the festival’s fourth year, and guides covered it again in twenty twenty-two. That fourth-year phrase is billing language from one source; no layer read gives a plain founding year, so the record supports calling the event established by twenty eighteen without fixing its first season.
What to Expect From the Next Delaware County Iowa Bacon-N-Hops Fest Festival
How often is Delaware County Iowa Bacon-N-Hops Fest Festival held?
Editions are documented in twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen and twenty twenty-two — a recurring event rather than a single outing, though the layers do not cover every year between. The twenty eighteen billing of a fourth year points to editions the descriptions do not individually preserve, so the proven pattern is a festival returning in August across multiple years, with gaps in the coverage rather than proven gaps in the event itself.
When is the next Delaware County Iowa Bacon-N-Hops Fest Festival?
No layer read for this article announces a date beyond the twenty twenty-two edition, so the next date cannot be stated from this record. What the record offers instead is a consistent window: the thirteenth and fourteenth of August in twenty sixteen, the eleventh of August in twenty eighteen and the sixth of August in twenty twenty-two all sit in the first half of August, where a future edition would most naturally be sought, subject to the chamber’s current listings.
Will the dates change?
They already vary within their window: a two-day span in twenty sixteen, then single Saturdays in twenty eighteen and twenty twenty-two, so the day moves even while the season holds steady. Expect the same pattern — an early August placement that still needs checking year by year, since no source fixes a permanent date.
Closing Thoughts
The Bacon-N-Hops record is short but honest, specific and independently corroborated: a chamber of commerce in a Delaware County seat, a table of bacon-inspired cooking, pours from breweries and home brewers, music treated as a headline rather than a backdrop, and a car cruise rolling through it all. The festival needs no founding myth; three dated editions across six years make the case on their own.
