Lunch in the Loop was hog wild Thursday, as Chicagoans got a little taste of the upcoming Illinois State Fair.
In an effort to attract visitors to the fair, Aug. 12-21 in Springfield, the state staged a decidedly un-Chicago-like event: racing pigs around James R. Thompson Center Plaza.
But it turns out that the racing pigs for this year’s fair aren’t even from Illinois.
Showing no signs of fatigue after their overnight trip from central Wisconsin, the pigs were in fine form, even if their track was concrete instead of the soft grass to which they are accustomed.
Racing every hour or so, the eight pigs-four boars and four sows-were a hit, drawing scores of passersby who stopped to watch the animals hurtle around the 70-foot long, fenced-in track.
An Oreo cookie on a silver platter awaited the winner.
“It’s kind of cute,” said Diane Moore of Chicago. On her way into the Thompson Center shortly before noon, Moore decided to take in the spectacle. “I’ve seen a pig race on TV, but never in person.”
Neither had most of the crowd of 100 to 200 gathered for one race, which made it all the more interesting.
“Down in Chicago, they’re really surprised,” said Shaun Wendt of Animal Entertainment, a Neshkoro, Wis., company that puts on animal shows at county and state fairs across the Midwest. “They’re not around them every day. They’re not familiar with what they really look like.”
Unlike everyday farm pigs, the “thoroughbreds” showcased Thursday don’t eat whenever they want, Wendt said.
“We feed them at designated times,” he said. “If they’re too full, they won’t run.”
So as they wallowed in woodchips, warming up for their first race, all the pigs had on their porky minds was the cookie at the end of the track, Wendt said.
“They’ll eat anything,” he said.
Along with the pigs, Animal Entertainment brought a sampling of the more than 125 other animals it keeps on its two central Wisconsin ranches.
A baby camel and a baby zedonk, a cross between a zebra and a donkey, were among the animals assembled in the impromptu petting zoo set up inside the racetrack.
Quite a few more critters-some even from Illinois-will be on display at the state fair.
