Hillsborough Hog Day brings the community together to eat BBQ, listen to live music and shop for hand-crafted gifts on Friday, September 14th, 2018, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday, September 15th, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s celebrating its 36th year and is Orange County’s largest and longest running festival. It takes place at River Park, 144 East Margaret Lane, Hillsborough.
The highlight of the festival is the BBQ. Veteran cooking teams will be competing for top honors.
The festival also includes:
- Live music
- Local handmade crafts & gifts
- Local food and drink vendors
- Dessert contest
- Hog Day 5K
- Classic Car Show
- Pigs on Parade
- Children’s Area
Hillsborough Hog Day Friday Entertainment Schedule
6 p.m.: The Nomads Band
The Nomads Band started on Franklin Street at Chapel Hill Junior High School back in 1962 with a bunch of guys who lived in the same Barclay Road neighborhood. Playing through high school and college under a couple of different names, they became quite well known throughout North and South Carolina. Reorganization in 1982 left only one of the original members and a return to the original name. Now, after 55 years of fun and frolic, they are still in the business of entertaining their audience and they excel in their ability to make a party happen.
8 p.m.: Dixie Revival
Dixie Revival is the Southeast’s premier tribute to Southern Rock & Roots, playing all your favorite hits from The Outlaws, .38 Special, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, ARS, Blackberry Smoke and many more.
Hillsborough Hog Day Saturday Entertainment Schedule
10 a.m.: Big Ron Hunter
Ron Hunter owns a voice that gives people chills. It’s the kind of voice that carries warmth and tenderness, a voice that is unmistakably his own and embodies everything that’s raw, pure and beautiful about the blues. Hunter is just an ordinary guy. A sweet, caring, happy-go- lucky husband and father of two; a devoted churchgoer and a good friend. He’s also an undiscovered talent, a fierce guitar player and a soulful bluesman who works as a maintenance man at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where you can find him holed up in his closet sized office, plucking away at his guitar and pouring out the blues. Although he’s been singing and playing guitar since he was knee-high, chances are you haven’t heard him. Yet.
11 a.m.: Hill Country Cosmopolitans
The Hill Country Cosmopolitans bring the sound of Texas Swing to the Carolinas, along with a touch of classic country and even some jazz. Their 3-piece lineup is stripped-down and raw, but their 1940s-era sound is fun, infectious and danceable music that everyone can enjoy.
1 p.m.: Elvis, Wayne Euliss
Wayne Euliss is an award-winning Elvis Tribute Artist. He has traveled from New York to Florida to perform at festivals, fairs and many other special events. His shows are appealing to audiences of all ages, and will take you back to the glory days of The King of Rock and Roll.
2:45 p.m.: Spaceship Days
Armed with the fusion of chemistry, mature songwriting, crisp production, and a spectacular live show Spaceship Days is a band for any music lover. After releasing a pair of albums independently, founding members Greg Torsone and Chuck Cox joined forces with vocalist and American Idol and America’s Got Talent finalist Adam Lee Decker to release “The Thrill of Freefall” in March 2013.
4:15 p.m.: JP and Leon Band
JP & Leon Band are a Rock & Roll band from Hillsborough, NC. Formed in early 2011 by Bryan Leon Phelps & Jerry Phelps, the father-and-son duo began attracting attention around Hillsborough with their catchy originals, classic covers, and strong vocal harmonies. At end of 2011, drummer Josh Miller joined up, Jerry and Leon plugged in, and the group became known as JP & Leon Band. The band released their debut full length studio album, JP & LEON BAND, in 2014, and then their follow-up album, Waves, in 2016. Following the addition of Jody Boyce, the band will return to the studio later this year to record their third album.
