Bowers 16th Annual Chile Festival
Despite the impending rain, I am super-siked to attend this year’s PA small town festival. If you saw the crowds at last year’s event, you would think the state tilted from both ends and emptied out the people into this off-the-beaten path town called Bowers. If it so in the middle of nowhere you would never imagine people would be able to find it let alone want to attend it. Yet people come from all over to attend the festival which is renowned for it’s Mennonites’ run chile pepper field. At last years event I picked the hell out of the row of Trinidad Scorpion pepper plants before the record was even claimed as the world’s hottest pepper. You can see the video of my exploits HERE. You will definitely get a feel of what it is like by watching it.
This year’s event will be even more special because chilehead favorites CaJohn, Defcon, Wy’s Wings, Bonfatto’s and our Feast Your Eyes on This spicy cooking contest winner Cajun Heat will all be making their first appearance. Along with them you have the likes of Heartbreaking Dawns, Captain Thom, Crazy Steve’s Pickles & Salsa, Dragonfire Hot Sauce, Torchbearer Sauces, Chile Spot, Red Lion Spicy Foods(check out their Pepper Relish review below, it is awesome), and I believe making his hot show debut Steve Seabury’s High River Sauces. If I left out anyone I am sorry. I think Deano’s jalapenos is on the list, but I am not sure that is an error or not, but I certainly hope he is coming. I gotta restock!
Along with yours truly from ILoveItSpicy, other chile bloggers attending will be Brian and Marilyn from HotSauceDaily & HotSauceWeekly, and Doug Spiros from PeppersandMore, and Jay T and Drunky Clause from TheHotPepper. Maybe we will be able to do a makeshift Bloggers’ Round Table as we have done in the past. There is a dinner being planned by Rick and Maria of Dragonfire Hot Sauce in nearby Allentown after the show is over on Friday at the Copperhead Grille. If you wish to be included in the head count please message Rick ASAP at
dr**********@gm***.com
. If you are attending the event, you are invited. We just need to know immediately because of the arrangements being made with the restaurant.
As for the show itself. There is an Amateur Salsa Contest on Friday and a Jalapeno Eating Contest on Saturday. I wasn’t going to enter the salsa contest, but after this week’s successful experiment making watermelon salsa, and getting extremely positive feedback from friends and the Fire Dawgs Salsa review squad, I have to give it a try. I will leave the jalapeno eating contest to my cohorts.
There is also the pepper field excursion up to the Mennonites’ fields to pick your own peppers. Last year it was $3/pound, and I got my $10 worth. You can drive up the road a 1/2 mile or take the horse and buggy ride up there free of charge to the public. You better get their early before I rape the fields again of all the Scorpions. Then you will have to buy them from me at $3/pepper. 😈
I will try to cover the event as I usually do with the bestest, most exciting, tummy-tingling footage ever in the history of chileheaddom. See you all there, hopeful with more sun than rain. Fingers and toes are crossed.
The Chile Pepper Food Festival
William Delong Park
233 Bowers Rd Bowers Pa 19511
Friday September 10th, 2010
Saturday September 11th, 2010
www.pepperfestival.com
Well, the first day was great. The weather completely cooperated, and a good number of people were in attendance. We just nearly sold out of all the stock we brought down. The first year doing any show, it’s quite difficult to figure out exactly how much of everything to bring. We’re doubling, if not tripling up for tomorrow. One very nice bonus is we were able to drive home after the show, being just over an hour away. Thanks God, or we would have had no stock for tomorrow. We’re usually no where near home when doing shows, so we took full advantage of it. Look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!