Pig Out in the Park is gone. Could something like it emerge?

It wasn’t the money, the interest or new taxes that killed Pig Out in the Park. It was time, founder Bill Burke said.

The man who started an event in 1979 that reached iconic status, bringing thousands of visitors to Riverfront Park as summer came to an end in the Lilac City, said Wednesday he has already fielded more than a score of calls of people interested in continuing his legacy after he announced the end of Pig Out on Tuesday.

While he is receptive, Burke owns the name, which means whatever replaces the event will not be named Pig Out in the Park, and he added a word of caution for any would-be successor.

“I’ve already had about 20 people ask if I would meet with them or their group or association to see if they could pick up an event like this,” Burke said. “I’m more than happy to do that. I love Spokane. I always want to see it be prosperous. But I think people are naive about how much effort and time and money it takes to put on an event like that. I don’t know a lot of people with the time or talent to do that.”

The 75-year-old grandfather, who started the event to showcase local bands before it later became known for plates brimming with sometimes exotic food, made his living separate from the hundreds of thousands raised each year to stage Pig Out.

“I had an advertising agency. In college, I worked at restaurants. I understood the food business,” he said. “I could approach people with knowledge.”

To organize an event that nearly outgrew Riverfront Park, the new leader must be ready to manage it every day.

“I had a supportive family that allowed me to put on this event,” Burke said. “With me working on Pig Out, I had to do something every day of the year.

“One year, during the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, I got two calls from people wanting to know if their band could play at Pig Out.”

Legacy beyond food

Tiffany Adams, 43, of Spokane, grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, and remembers how thousands gathered in the summer for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Her family moved to Spokane when she was 10 and found a worthy replacement: Pig Out in the Park.

“What drew me was the consistency, the uniqueness of it,” Adams said. “I just loved even just walking around with all the vibrancy. It brought everybody together at that time just before school starts.”

Adams’ late father was a big fan of the event.

“I can still remember him there,” she said. “I can remember the excitement of getting all the little things he loved.”

Now a server at Skewers Armenian Restaurant, Adams said she’ll miss going to the Spokane-centric event that she attended for 33 years.

“I was so shocked when I heard. I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ ” she said. “I feel like a lot of people are devastated that it’s ending. We have Bloomsday, Hoopfest and Pig Out. Those are the things that make Spokane.”

Emilie Cameron, president and CEO of Downtown Spokane Partnership, said Pig Out was a major economic contributor to the Lilac City.

“Pig Out in the Park has been one of the top 10 business weekends in downtown Spokane,” Cameron said. “It has been an institution for a great long time.”

While it started in 1979, it was canceled in 2020 and 2021, thus operating for 44 years since it was founded 46 years ago.

“Losing Pig Out is a loss for the community,” said Cameron, who said she received no forewarning of Burke’s decision.

While not a replacement, Cameron noted that Crave!, an event that brings globally inspired cuisines, is returning to Spokane. Originally founded in Spokane, it moved to Spokane Valley before its return this summer, she said. It runs July 16-18 in Riverfront Park.

“We know that Pig Out has been a tradition for families,” Cameron said. “We are optimistic that we can create new traditions and keep bringing people downtown.”

One of the recent vendors of Pig Out was Skewers, which Mirak Kazanjian initially started as a food truck before building the clientele to support the restaurant, located at 1009 W. 1st Ave.

Kazanjian was a patron of Pig Out before he rented a space there some three years ago.

“I would go down and enjoy the music and the crowd,” he said. “It’s kind of sad to lose something that feels like a core summer activity.”

The event is definitely worth saving in some form, Kazanjian said.

“Where else are you going to get a donut hamburger? Or a cotton candy burrito?” he asked. “It was actually really good. I always tried something different. It would be cool to see it revamped or saved.”

Burke said the decision, while it seemed sudden, had actually been part of a yearlong discussion.

“We thought we might be able to pull it off this year,” he said. “But all good things must come to an end.”

Burke, who still gets recognized on the street as the Pig Out guy, said he is proud of the run.

“We are very lucky” he said. “Riverfront Park is the best outdoor venue in the Pacific Northwest. We had the right idea at the right time and the right space to put it on. I think people dug it.”