Philadelphia Bacon and Beer Festival returns for a fourth year

What happens when you give dozens of local chefs 1732 Meats bacon, ask them to make their most creative dishes with it, and pair the results with craft beer?

Short answer: Very good things. Slightly longer but more gratifying answer: The 2016 Philadelphia Bacon and Beer Festival, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 at the 23rd Street Armory as a fundraiser for MANNA.

The shindig, back for its fourth year, has donated $30,000 to the Philly hunger nonprofit.

Tickets are $50 per person (here), which includes all you care to sample from more than 40 restaurants and breweries for the entire 2½ hours of the event. There's also an $85 VIP baller ticket, which lets you skip the line to get in and includes a free bacon t-shirt, a Defend Bacon tote, a commemorative glass, AND a half pound of 1732 Meats bacon to take home.

2016 #PhillyBaconAndBeer restaurants include:

The Blue Duck, Brick and Mortar, Bru Craft & Wurst, Cafe Lift, Cheu Noodle Bar, City Tap House, Craftsman Row, Devil's Den, Dos Tacos, Drexel Food Lab, Grubhouse, Indeblue, Iron Hill Chestnut Hill, Kensington Quarters, MilkBoy, Prohibition Taproom, Shake Shack, SouthGate, Standard Tap, Taproom on 19th, The Twisted Tail, Waffles & Wedges, Wishbone Philly

2016 #PhillyBaconAndBeer breweries include:

2nd Story Brewing, Allagash, Cape May Brewing, Conshohocken Brewing, Crime & Punishment, Flying Fish, Highway Manor, Iron Hill, Manayunk Brewery, Penn Brewery, Sly Fox, St. Benjamin, Two Roads, Weyerbacher, Yards, Round Guys, Austin Eastciders (gluten free!).

Bacon-laced dishes range from starters to desserts, including Standard Tap chef Carolynn Angle's bacon blondies with a mole brownie swirl. If you can't wait for the festival, the recipe for that dish is available here.