Wichita Downtown Chili Cookoff will have a record number of chili cookers this year
What could be more fall than eating as much chili as you can stomach for $5?
Wichitans will get that annual opportunity on Saturday, when the Wichita Wagonmasters put on their annual chili sampling event and fundraiser.
The Wagonmasters will again stage the event at the new location it tried last year, on a closed-down section of Douglas in front of Century II, stretching from Waco to Main. For years previous, it had happened on three blocks of Douglas between St. Francis and the railroad overpass.
Head “chili dipper” Shaun Isham, the Wagonmaster appointed to organize this year’s event, said that participation is at a “record breaking” level this year and that 80 teams have signed up to make chili for the event. They’re a mixture of serious competitors vying for a spot in the World Championship Chili Cookoff next year in Des Moines and less-serious groups of co-workers or friends cooking for fun.
A Dining with Denise booth will be among those set up, and my Eagle cohorts and I will be dishing out some smoked chicken chili in the “just for fun” category. Visit our booth early, and you can snag one of my free Dining with Denise aprons, seen with this story. We’ll be passing them out while they last on Saturday.
Attendees who buy $5 tasting kits at the gate will be able to try samples of the chili the teams make and vote for the best one. Fifteen teams also have signed up for the event’s salsa contest, and they’ll also be passing out samples.
On the off chance that attendees don’t get their fill, they’ll also be entitled to one full bowl of chili plus all the fixings prepared by the Wichita Wagonmasters, a group of local businessmen who help promote Wichita and organize charity events throughout the year. The Wagonmasters will be set up on Kennedy Plaza.
New this year: Thanks to a change in state law, the festival will be able to serve craft beer along with the 3.2 stuff they’ve offered in the past. Aero Plains Brewing, Wichita Brewing Company and Walnut River Brewing will all be set up and selling on Kennedy Plaza. The law also will allow the Wagonmasters to serve hard seltzers from their beer tents.
The event also will include a kids zone with free ice cream from Hiland Dairy and an expanded touch-a-truck area. Also on the schedule: a corn hole tournament and live music from Epic. Money raised will go to The Good Life Grants to support local charities.
The public tasting starts at noon, but the Wagonmasters will allow people in the gates as early as 9 a.m., when the beer will be cold and ready.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 1:43 PM.