6/7/2011
Is your chili hotter than the month of July, or do you make a mild version that elicits raves instead of tears of pepper-induced joy?
Regardless, the Mountain State Art and Craft Fair (MSACF) invites you to enter the “Firecracker Chili Cookoff” Saturday, July 2, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Awards will be presented at 4 p.m. by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA).
Sanctioned by the International Chili Society (ICS), the chili contest will award cash prizes in four categories: Red Chili, Verde Chili, Salsa and People’s Choice. Contestants must prepare their chili on-site for the Red Chili and Verde categories while Salsa entries can be prepared on site or delivered to the event.
Of course, in West Virginia a pot of chili isn’t complete without a pan of cornbread, so these contests will also be awarded cast-iron skillets and cash prizes for traditional and non-traditional cornbread. Those entries should be prepared at home and submitted for judging by 11 a.m. on July 2.
Entry fee for Red Chili is $25 for ICS members and $75 for non-members. Entry fee for Verde and Salsa categories is $20 ($70 for non-members). Cornbread entries are free with your paid admission to the Fair.
Chili will be judged on taste, consistency, aroma, color and bite. Red Chili prizes are $400 – first place, $200 – second place and $100 – third place. The People’s Choice winner will take home $100, and first place in Verde and Salsa categories will receive $75, with 2nd place in each category receiving $50 and third place finishers $25. Cornbread winners in each category will receive cast-iron skillets and cash awards of $50, $35 and $15.
The contest is sponsored by the WVDA with support from the MSACF, ICS and Cracker Barrel of Mineral Wells.
Held annually during the Independence Day holiday at Cedar Lakes Conference Center near Ripley, MSACF is a nationally recognized event that brings over 150 of the finest artisans in the region for a celebration of art, crafts, music and traditional Appalachian culture. The dates for 2011 are June 30-July 2. Hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $2 for children 6-12, and children under 6 are admitted free. Group discounts are also available.
Visit
www.msacf.com or
www.wvagriculture.org for complete rules and a registration form. For more information, contact the WVDA’s Debra Gard at 304-483-4027 or 888-982-3247,
dgard@frontier.com, or WVDA’s Cindy Martel at 304-541-9756.
Contact Information
Buddy Davidson, Communications Officer
304-558-3708; 304-541-5932 (cell)
bdavidson@ag.state.wv.us