Catch the fever Sunday, August 30th! Join the fun, music, and hot sauce from 11am - 5:30pm at Waterloo Park, 12th and Red River

Admission is FREE with a donation of three non-perishable food items for the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

In the nineteen years since its inception, what started as a friendly contest between Austin and San Antonio has become one of the largest annual contests in the world, the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival. FREE to the public (with a donation of three healthy, non-perishable food items or a cash donation to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas), the event draws upwards of 15,000 spectators and more than 350 entries every year. This year the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival will take place on Sunday, August 30 at Waterloo Park from 11:00am - 5:30pm.

The outstanding musical performances and culinary exhibitions are notable attractions, but the biggest draws are the salsas. More than one hundred gallons of hot sauce are consumed at the eve

nt every year. Area restaurants show off their hot and spicy foods at booths, and vendors from across the Southwest set up shop to sell hot and spicy cookbooks, fresh peppers, and chili pepper memorabilia.

The hot sauce contest has three levels of competition: individuals (homemade), restaurants, and commercial bottlers. This gives us a good chance to recognize salsas in a class by themselves. It also gives us a chance to consider salsas made fresh daily in restaurants apart from those made for grocery store shelves. The 2009 featured Hot Sauce Festival judges are some of the finest chefs in Texas!

The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is presented in conjunction with the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). Three healthy, non-perishable food donations or a cash donation for CAFB are requested. Purchase raffle tickets at the festival to be included in the drawing for this year's Sizzling Summer Raffle prize packages (up to 6 packages available with a value of up to $800 each). There is no limit – purchase as many as you'd like! $1 each or 6 for $5. Every $1 raffle ticket purchased allows the Food Bank to provide $5 worth of nutritious food to Central Texas families.

Join the fun, music and hot sauce from 11am to 5:30pm at Waterloo Park, 12th and Red River. Food vendors will provide a wide array of foods – this year Buffalo Billiards, Curra's, Matt's El Rancho, Santa Rita, Sun Garden Shaved Ice and Torchy's Tacos will be on-hand serving up their specialty dishes!

Live Music Lineup:

T BIRD & THE BREAKS
4:00-5:15pm

PAULA NELSON BAND
2:30-3:30pm

NAKIA & HIS SOUTHERN COUSINS
1-2pm

THE TINY TIN HEARTS
NOON-12:30pm

THE FIREANTS
11-11:30am

The 19th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is presented in conjunction with the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas and sponsored in part by 107.1 KGSR, H-E-B, Ziegenbock, Silicon Labs, Capital Metro, Champion Scion, Texas Culinary Academy, Sustainable Waves and Planet K.

To participate in the contest, download the entry form, fill it out, and check in at Waterloo Park between 10:30-11:30am on Sunday, Aug. 30, with one pint of your best sauce if made at home, one quart if made in a commercial kitchen. We'll take it from there. Then join the rest of the crowd for plenty of salsa, great food, music, and the results.

If you are a commercial hot sauce bottler and are interested in securing a booth at the Hot Sauce Festival, please contact Elizabeth.

For sponsorship or media inquiries please contact Erin.

Looking for a HOT volunteer opportunity? Contact Jillian Lobstein at hotsaucefest@gmail.com to volunteer for the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival.

HOT SAUCE MAKERS
One of the most popular features of the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is the giant tasting tent in the middle of Waterloo Park full of tasty sauces free for the sampling! In order to have as many different kinds of sauces as possible under that tent, we need your help! The Austin Chronicle is working in conjunction with Ciao Chow Catering to allow Individual Hot Sauce Makers to make their sauces in a commercial kitchen so that our volunteers can then put them out for the general public to sample.

On Friday, August 28 & Saturday, August 29 Ciao Chow Catering's commercial kitchen will be available for FREE so that you can make your salsa. YOU MUST BRING ALL OF YOUR OWN INGREDIENTS and please plan to make one quart of sauce. Once you are finished, you will receive a receipt verifiying that your salsa was made in a commercial kitchen. Please BRING THIS RECEIPT WITH YOU WHEN YOU check-in on the morning of the event.

Restaurant Hot Sauce Makers must provide a receipt verifying that their sauce was made in a commercial kitchen so that the general public will be able to sample it under the tasting tent. Please BRING one quart of sauce and the receipt to check-in on the morning of the event.

ALL HOT SAUCE ENTRIES WILL BE JUDGED BY OUR PANEL OF JUDGES REGARDLESS of where they were made.

Ciao Chow is located at 6019 N. IH 35. Hours of availability: Friday, August 28, 2pm-8pm; Saturday, August 29, 9am-6pm. Call Mark at 301-4443 to schedule your appointment.