Baconalia (bacon + bacchanalia)

“Baconalia” (bacon + bacchanalia) is a festival that celebrates bacon, just as the bacchanalia celebrates drink and the Greco-Roman god Bacchus (or Dionysus). The term “baconalia” was popularized in 2011, when the restaurant chain Denny’s introduced a special menu of bacon dishes. Denny’s did not trademark the name.
 
“Baconalia” has been cited in print since at least March 2008.
 
 
The Kitty Kat Lounge
SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2008
Baconalia 2008: MNSpeak Takes On Manny’s and a Trip to the ER
So, Saturday was the first ever Minneapolis Bacon Bash. A bunch of us internet nerds decided to leave the safe confines of cyberspace to do a pub crawl for bacon. Earlier in the day, people got together for lunch at the Triple Rock, whereas I decided to do the evening crawl of The Local and Manny’s Steakhouse (totally worth the money, BTW).
 
Gapers Block
DESSERT SAT MAR 21 2009
Dessert Pig: Coco Rouge’s Andalucia Bar
By Leah Williams
I am as big a fan of the bacon in dessert trend as anybody can be. I’ve consumed chocolate-dipped bacon from Bleeding Heart, bacon candy bars, bacon-maple cupcakes from More, bacon-fat gingersnaps, and bacon brittle; I’ve made bacon-fat truffles (thank you, Schwa, for giving me your recipe) and bacon baklava. The last four items in this list were all consumed at a Baconalia party.
   
Google Goups: alt.tv.farscape
Newsgroups: alt.tv.farscape
From: Tyler Trafford

Date: 10 Jul 2009 21:13:34 GMT
Local: Fri, Jul 10 2009 4:13 pm
Subject: Re: idea
(...)
This is how I celebrate Baconalia.
 
NewsOK (Oklahoma)
Folks pig out at Baconalia, Oklahoma’s first-ever bacon festival
A bacon eating contest, pageant and hog-calling contest highlighted Baconalia, Oklahoma’s first-ever bacon festival, held in Enid.
By Carrie Coppernoll | Published: August 29, 2010
ENID — Eric Winscher had a plan. Drink water before. Find the crispiest bacon possible. Drink lots of water during.
 
His plan worked. He dominated the bacon-eating contest at Baconalia, the state’s first bacon festival, held in a bar parking lot in Enid. About 150 people attended Saturday.
 
Jessica and Gastronomy
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011
Baconalia!
I’m not sure I’m proud to announce this, or thoroughly shocked, but Denny’s has just rolled out its new campaign. Baconalia! That’s right, seven new items that are built around that saltly, greasy breakfast meat we all love and salivate over: bacon. There is even a dessert that has bacon.
 
Time magazine
In Defense of Bacon: What Denny’s Doesn’t Get
By Josh Ozersky Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011
It’s Baconalia at Denny’s! Get it? The chain has launched an elaborate promotion, with a half a dozen bacon-themed additions to the menu, including a bacon sundae, bacon meat loaf and bacon flapjacks. We in the media are expected to marvel at its cleverness or cluck at the naughty, over-the-top excess. Really, though, we’ve all seen it before.
   
New York (NY) Times
They Gather Secretly at Night, and Then They (Shhh!) Eat
By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
Published: April 14, 2011
(...)
He said he was heading next to the sold-out Baconfest Chicago celebration, billed as a “baconalia.”
 
The Atlantic—Wire
Baconalia Is Serious Business
RICHARD LAWSON
MAR 14, 2013
Whenever you see something as snarkified and opportunistic as the Denny’s web-culture driven styled Baconalia, let’s not forget that at some office park somewhere, this is someone’s job. As the restaurant chain revives its irony-laced Baconalia promotion, using “fail” videos and “memes” to promote its bacon-filled limited-time menu, a Denny’s marketing VP tells Restaurant News, Baconalia 2.0 is especially serious business. In real-world terms, the promotion, which started on Tuesday, has put a bunch of new bacon items on the menu, created a special website, and hired popular web comedians to help promote the repeat of Baconalia.