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Upcoming chili cook-off benefits Habitat
Mark your calendar and work up an appetite for the second annual Forbidden Bean District Chili Cook-Off, set for Aug. 23 on American Legion Drive in Warrenton.A benefit for Habitat for Humanity, the event begins at 10:30 a.m. and runs through 4:30 p.m. with music, games for kids, and, of course, boatloads of chili.
Event coordinator Jake Ritchie expects nearly 20 chefs to compete in the International Chili Society (ICS) cook-off and hopes they’ll create as many as 50 entries in categories like red chili, green chili, salsa, restaurant, people’s choice, and freestyle.
The cook-off is one of 300 sanctioned worldwide by ICS, which has raised more than $75 million for charities and non-profit organizations, according to the group’s Web site. Last year’s Warrenton cook-off netted $2,000 for Habitat, Ritchie said.
Ritchie hopes to draw 300 participants to the event this year. “We want to get this as profitable as possible,” he said, adding that he hopes it will one day reach the level of the Warrenton Spring Festival.
“This is a family event. There’ll be lots of kids’ activities,” he said. A pie eating contest, hot sauce and chili pepper contests, and a hula hoop competition offer ways for everyone in the family to get involved. Barbecue, hot dogs, and hamburgers will also be available for purchase, and home-based business vendors will be on hand with their wares.
Ritchie, who said he loves to cook, has been making chili for about five years. “I went to [a chili cook-off] and I saw how much fun the cooks were having. Even though it’s a competition, there’s a big camaraderie between the chili cooks. I’m a regular at the DC-101 Chili Cook-Off. I used to go to a lot of different ICS events,” Ritchie said, explaining that he wanted to bring a similar, smaller-scale festival to Warrenton.
Once the idea was planted, bringing it to fruition was a challenge.
“It was not easy. We decided to do this within six weeks of it happening,” he said of the first event, held in March 2007. A cool, rainy, day dampened turnout, but not the commitment of Ritchie, and his wife Gina to the event.
Because the event is sanctioned as a district chili cook-off, winners will advance to the final chili cook-off of the season and could qualify to go to the World Championship, Ritchie explained. Competition rules are available online at www.chilicookoff.com. To register or for more information about the event, visit www.theforbiddenbean.com or call (540) 341-7072.
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