Hosting a Fall Pig Roast

What we've learned after five years of feeding about 50 people in our backyard.

WHEN: Last Saturday in September

GUESTS: About 50

SETTING: Backyard

MAIN EVENT: Whole smoked pig

VIBE: Casual fall gathering, lots of kids, very little fuss

EXPERIENCE: We've hosted it almost every year for five years

Our annual pig roast has become one of my favorite excuses to get a lot of people we love in the same place. We've tried different food, activities and competitions over the years. Some have become staples. Others were fun experiments.

If you're planning your own big fall backyard party, here's what has actually worked for us.

THE QUICK TAKE

WORTH PAYING FOR Table and chair delivery

BEST KIDS' ACTIVITY Paint-a-pumpkin station

ALWAYS A HIT Moon bounce

EASIEST DECOR Mums + checkered tablecloths

MOST FUN NEW ACTIVITY Ice cream taste test

THE CENTERPIECE Whole pig smoked overnight

BEST SIDE EFFECT A very good reason to deep-clean the entire house

WOULD WE DO IT AGAIN? Considering we've done it for five years: yes.

01 | THE PIG

★★★★★

This is the part that makes a pig roast a pig roast.

We order a whole pig from a local butcher ahead of time. We reserve it by weight and specify whether we want it butterflied or left whole.

My husband then slow-smokes it overnight before the party.

For the smoker, we've been able to rent a large smoker through MWR on a military base rather than buying equipment we'd only need occasionally.

WHAT I'D DO

✓ Reserve the pig well ahead of time

✓ Ask the butcher about recommended weight for your guest count

✓ Decide whether you want it butterflied or whole

✓ Have your cooking timeline figured out before party day

✓ Give yourself more time than you think you need

VERDICT: The pig is the event. Keep everything else relatively simple.

02 | DON'T OVERDO THE FOOD

★★★★★

When you're feeding around 50 people, it's very easy to convince yourself that you need to prepare an enormous menu. You don't. The pig is already the centerpiece.

I usually add a handful of appetizers and desserts:

GUACAMOLE

MEATBALLS

BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

CHARCUTERIE

BROWNIES

Then we ask our guests to bring a side dish or dessert to share. It alleviates a lot of the stress for preparing food for a large crowd and it's a fun way to try new foods and. After all, variety is the spice of life!

VERDICT: Pick a few things you make well and FAST. Don't turn the entire day of the party into food prep.

03 | PAINT-A-PUMPKIN

★★★★★

Possibly the best kids' activity we've done.

We buy a large quantity of mini pumpkins from an Amish market because we've found them considerably less expensive there than buying dozens individually elsewhere.

Set out the pumpkins with paint supplies and let the kids go.

That's basically it.

It gives them something creative to do, doubles as fall decor during the party, and they get to take something home afterward.

VERDICT: DO IT ✓

04 | RENT THE MOON BOUNCE

★★★★★

The moon bounce is another repeat.

We rent ours through MWR, and it gets used heavily every year.

For a party with a lot of families, having one big activity where kids can entertain themselves is worth far more than planning six tiny structured games.

VERDICT: RENT AGAIN ✓

05 | THE ICE CREAM COMPETITION

★★★★★

This was one of our newest ideas and way more fun than it had any right to be.

We bought five brands of vanilla ice cream ranging from inexpensive store brands to more expensive options and even a local gas station/convenience-store brand.

Before the party:

1. Scoop each brand into secretly color coordinated tiny cups. Don't lose your reference sheet!

2. Tell guests the brand contenders. It was fun to watch people connect some dots given the small context clues.   

3. Have everyone taste the 5 options.

4. Vote for the favorite using the "drop a ticket in the bucket" method. 

5. Reveal the winner at the end.

People inevitably have opinions.

Strong opinions.

And finding out whether the expensive ice cream actually beat the cheap one was half the fun.

VERDICT: ABSOLUTELY DO AGAIN ✓

This would work with plenty of other foods too:

Hot chocolateApple ciderSalsaChipsBrowniesChocolateCoffee

This ended up being pretty costly. But it got the whole crowd engaged and laughing. We felt it was worth it. 

06 | CHILI COOK-OFF

★★★★☆

Another year, we turned part of the meal into a competition.

Guests brought their own:

CHILI | SOUP | CHOWDER

Everyone tasted the entries and voted for their favorite.

The winner got an Amazon gift card.

It worked particularly well for a fall party because people contributed to the meal while also giving everyone something to talk about.

VERDICT: WOULD DO AGAIN ✓

07 | PUMPKIN CHUCKING TREBUCHET

★★★☆☆

AMAZING IDEA. NEEDED MORE ENGINEERING TIME.

One year, my husband decided our fall pig roast needed a trebuchet for launching pumpkins across the yard.

Naturally.

He built one himself, and even before it was functional, it was probably one of the coolest additions we've had at the party.

There was just one problem:

It broke before we actually got to chuck a pumpkin.

So I can't exactly put this one in the tried-and-true category.

But the idea was good enough that I'm still including it.

If you're handy, have plenty of space, and—most importantly—have enough time to build and safely test one well before guests arrive, a pumpkin-chucking setup could be an incredibly memorable fall-party activity.

Our mistake was not leaving enough time to work out the kinks before party day.

VERDICT: GREAT IDEA. OUR EXECUTION NEEDS A REMATCH.

WOULD WE TRY IT AGAIN? ✓ Yes—with significantly more testing.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't make party day the beta test.

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08 | KEEP THE DECOR SIMPLE

★★★★★

For a party this large, I don't want to spend a fortune decorating things people aren't going to care about.

Our formula is pretty simple.

MUMS

I put big mum arrangements in my outdoor planters.

They're one of the things people compliment most, and I can enjoy them long after the party is over.

I also buy these from Amish growers when possible.

CHECKERED TABLECLOTHS

Simple. Casual. Perfect for a pig roast.

But:

BUY TABLECLOTH CLIPS.

Outdoor tablecloths + September breeze = incredibly annoying.

The clips are one of those tiny things that make the setup noticeably better.

PIG BALLOON

We put a pig-shaped balloon near the driveway.

It's cute, requires essentially no decorating ability and lets people know they've found the right place.

That's about as elaborate as I need the decor to be.

VERDICT: Spend money on things people use. Let mums do the decorating.

09 | RENT THE TABLES & CHAIRS

★★★★★

For roughly 50 people, we rent tables and chairs from a local rental company.

And we pay extra for delivery.

Every time.

There are already enough things to do before hosting 50 people at your house.

Picking up, unloading, setting up, breaking down, reloading and returning dozens of chairs is not where I want to save money.

VERDICT: PAY FOR DELIVERY ✓

One of my strongest recommendations from five years of doing this.

10 | END WITH A BONFIRE

★★★★★

We don't really give the pig roast an end time.

As the evening gets cooler, we light a big bonfire, bring out the s'mores, and let the night wind down on its own.

Some people head home after dinner. Some stay for the fire. And some inevitably end up sitting around with us until really late.

I love the casualness of it.

There's no announcement that the party is over and no feeling that everyone needs to leave at once. The crowd just gradually gets smaller as the night goes on.

And honestly, that's usually when I finally get to really talk to people.

With around 50 guests, so much of the earlier part of the party is spent bouncing from one quick conversation to another. Once there's a smaller group left sitting around the fire, everything slows down. Those are often some of my favorite conversations of the entire day.

WHAT WE NEED

✓ A good supply of firewood

✓ Chairs around the fire

✓ Marshmallow roasting sticks

✓ Graham crackers

✓ Chocolate

✓ Marshmallows

Nothing elaborate.

VERDICT: DON'T PUT AN END TIME ON IT ✓

Feed everyone. Light the fire. Put out the s'mores.

Let people stay as long as they're having a good time.

THE SETUP

If I were recreating our party from scratch, I'd think in zones rather than decorating the entire yard.

FOOD

Pig + main food table

DRINKS

We provide non-alcoholic drinks and make a large batch mixed drink

Coolers + BYOB

SEATING

Rented tables + chairs

KIDS

Paint-a-pumpkin

Moon bounce

SOMETHING EVERYONE CAN DO

Ice cream tasting or chili cook-off

That's enough.

You don't need entertainment scheduled every 20 minutes.

People mostly want to eat and talk.

WHAT I'D SPEND MONEY ON

✓ TABLE + CHAIR DELIVERY

Convenience wins.

✓ MOON BOUNCE RENTAL

Hours of entertainment.

✓ MINI PUMPKINS

Activity + decoration + take-home item in one.

✓ TABLECLOTH CLIPS

Boring. Cheap. Necessary.

WHAT I WOULDN'T SPEND MUCH ON

✕ ELABORATE DECOR

Mums already make everything look like fall.

✕ TOO MANY ACTIVITIES

One or two good ones are enough.

✕ AN ENORMOUs MENU BURDEN

People are coming for the pig. Potluck style for sides and dessert provides convenience and offers lots of options!

✕ THINGS YOU CAN RENT

Before buying equipment for one large party, check local rental companies—and, if you're eligible, resources like MWR.

THE ONE THING I HAVEN'T SOLVED

Hosting 50 people from different parts of our lives means I somehow spend the entire party talking to everyone...

and talking to no one.

It's a lot of:

“Hi! I'm so glad you're here!”

“How are the kids?”

“Did you get food?”

“Hold on, someone needs me.”

Repeat.

I don't have a brilliant solution for that yet.

But there's something really good about having friends, coworkers, neighbors and family from completely different parts of our lives all gathered in our backyard.

It's good fellowship.

Even if I only manage a five-minute conversation with everyone.

THE SHORT LIST

MAIN EVENT★★★★★ Whole smoked pig

BEST KIDS' ACTIVITY★★★★★ Paint-a-pumpkin

BEST RENTAL★★★★★ Moon bounce

BEST MONEY SPENT★★★★★ Table + chair delivery

EASIEST DECOR★★★★★ Mums

CHEAP THING YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU BOUGHT★★★★★ Tablecloth clips

BEST GROUP ACTIVITY★★★★★ Blind ice cream tasting

BEST UNEXPECTED BENEFIT The house gets very clean, at least once a year.

IF I WERE HOSTING MY FIRST ONE

I'd keep it this simple:

1. Reserve the pig.

2. Figure out the smoker and cooking timeline.

3. Rent tables and chairs—and get them delivered.

4. Choose one great kids' activity.

5. Set up one self-serve drink station.

6. Make a few appetizers you already know how to make.

7. Put mums around the yard.

8. Invite people you actually want to spend an afternoon with.

Everything else is optional.

Five years in, that's probably the biggest thing I've learned:

A memorable party doesn't need more stuff. It needs good food, something fun to do, and people who are happy to be there.

THE FAMILY FIELD GUIDE

Real experience. Honest recommendations. Just the useful parts.

Last updated: August 2026