The scent of barbecue on the breeze will lead you straight to the 2008 Hog Day festival.

The 26th annual celebration of all things porcine will take place Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Cameron Park. As always, Hog Day will feature all sorts of stuff: rides and games, arts and crafts, live music and lots of food including, of course, barbecue. Thousands of pounds of it, cooked and seasoned and sauced by 36 teams from throughout the state, all hoping to be crowned 2008 Hog Day champion.

The cookers will tend their masterpieces through the night Friday, and at 8:30 a.m. Saturday the judges will begin eating their way through samples of all 36 entries. Last year’s winners were Charles and Sonja Rich of Efland.

The ‘cue that doesn’t wind up on the judges’ plates will be turned into sandwiches and barbecue plates in the main tent.

Meanwhile, performers will play everything from blues to beach music to alternative rock. Friday night’s featured act is the Flabbergasters, and Saturday’s lineup includes a blast from way in the past, eastern North Carolina’s Nantucket.

Contests are pig-centric, including a hog hollering contest (guest judge is another member of the livestock family, Durham Bulls mascot Wool E. Bull) and a guess-the-weight-of-the-pig competition.

Antique cars will be on display, and more than 100 vendors will sell their wares.

You don’t necessarily think of pork and the green movement going hand in hand, but Hog Day is billed as a “zero-waste, trash-free festival.” Organizers plan to recycle everything: paper products, forks and spoons, food waste, the works.

2008 Hillsborough Hog Day

Friday, 6-10 p.m.

Admission $5, children 12 and under free

-- 7 p.m.: The Deal (old time rock n’ roll)

-- 8 p.m.: The Flabbergasters (pop, disco, beach, rock, R&B)

Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Admission $3, children 12 and under free

-- 9 a.m.: Breakthrough (Christian, gospel)

-- 11 a.m.: Abov Gravity (local teen group)

-- Noon: Jim Quick and the Coastline Band (soul, blues, rock)

-- 2 p.m. The Shades (Motown, beach, funk)

-- 3:30 p.m.: Nantucket (rock)

-- 5 p.m.: Wicked Steep Hill (eclectic covers — U2, Nirvana, B-52s, etc.)

For information, see www.hogdays.com or call (919) 732-8156