Claremont has had a city festival for many decades.

Originally the festival was known as the Firemen’s Jamboree and the local firefighters would host the pork dinner, which is a mainstay of the event. At that time, they would cook the pork in a rock-lined pit in the ground, reminisced Don Gray, former Dodge County Commissioner. They would lay corn in the cob, still in its husk, on top of the pork and when everything was cooked to perfection, the firemen and other volunteers would serve the meal. There was also a tug-of-war between different groups.

The name of the festival was changed to Moonshine Days for a few years in homage to the ethanol plant near town. However, that name offended enough people that it was soon changed to Hogfest, honoring the surrounding hog farms and local Harley-Davidson owners.

This year Hogfest starts on Friday night with a beer garden, the annual pork feed, tractor pulls and a street dance.

Saturday there will be a volleyball tournament, antique tractor and truck pulls, food vendors including walking tacos, a bounce house, a petting zoo, kid’s games, a clown, a cornhole tournament, live music, and a street dance among other activities.

On Sunday, there is a pancake breakfast, a car show, music, a parade, and water wars.

For details and a complete schedule visit www.facebook.com/claremonthogfest