Even with the threat of rain, this year’s Hogs for the Cause showed a large turnout.  The cook-off has a philanthropic purpose: raising money for pediatric brain cancer care.  The different teams ranged from professional chefs to groups of friends looking for an excuse to drink and camp out on a Friday night in City Pork. 

Whole hogs at City Park, an Easter egg hunt in Algiers, theatre performances from the CAC to Gentilly, live music, and more are happening today in the Big Easy. On this day in 1957, Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’” hit number one on the Billboard Chart. Now, more to do this Saturday. 

This weekend, the untidiest of ungulates take over City Park as over 80 teams prepare their pigs for another year of Hogs for the Cause.  From rotisserie to ribs, participants use a wide variety of cooking methods to compete for the best pork in the park. 

by Brad Rhines

They may have been rivals in the NOLA Burger Brawl, but The Company Burger and Cowbell joined forces over the weekend to prove they know a thing or two about pig at Saturday’s Hogs for the Cause.  The team—led by Adam Biderman of The Company Burger and featuring Brack May of Cowbell—took home the Grand Champion prize, bolstered in part by their pork tongue sliders on rye with Swiss cheese and mustard slaw, which earned first place in the Porkpourri category.  Photos and a full list of winners after the jump.

by Brad Rhines

At last year’s Hogs for the Cause, Swine Krewe smoked the competition, winning first place in butt, first place in fundraising, and doing well enough in the other categories to win the biggest prize of all, Grand Champion.  As the team prepares for Saturday’s 4th annual Hogs for the Cause Fundraiser and Cook-off, the pressure’s on to repeat, as 60 other teams vie for trophies and, more importantly, bragging rights. NoDef checked in with the reigning princes of pork to see what’s on the table for this year’s event.

For New Orleans architect Laura Filipek, a weekend barbeque means firing up the Weber kettle grill and hanging with a few of her best girlfriends.  For Leslie Scott, a restaurant owner in Yazoo City, Mississippi, barbeque is more series business, a family tradition that goes back five generations and has taken her across the U.S. competing is some of the country's biggest cook-offs.  

The Big Bad Wolf will look to have had his way this weekend in City Park, as over 40 teams are set to invade the city's prime public space for a mammoth pork-a-pa-looza.