Downtown Chili Showdown

And The Winner Is...

Congrats to Earl Smith and Darryl Hammond for winning the Judge's Choice at our 2014 Downtown Chili Showdown held at the Main Street Arena on April 12!  The pair's "Belly Achin' Chili" not only scored high marks from our judges, but was a favorite of many of our visiting tasters as well!  As a reward for their hard work Earl and Darryl took home the coveted Downtown Chili Showdown trophy, a caribbean cruise vacation and a cash prize. In true champion form, Earl and Darryl generously donated their cash winnings to Red Shoe Cville - proving that they are not just chili champions, but champions for the cause, as well.  Well done on so many levels, guys, thank you!

The 2014 People's Choice Award went deservedly to Kelly Sebesta of Virginia National Bank, whose incredible booth decorations were trumped only by the amazing taste of her chili!  Additionally, if there was an award for putting the most heart in to it, Kelly would deserve the biggest trophy of all. Her efforts alone helped us raise hundreds of dollars for RMHC - her cup was literally running over!  Thank you Kelly, for helping us make this a truly special event!

And of course, we'd love to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated and attended this year's Downtown Chili Showdown!  With your support we were able to raise over $8000(!) for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, all while have a fabulously fun time rockin' our red shoes.

We are so grateful to the following businesses, restaurants, and amateur chefs for their participation in and support of this year's event. We could not have made this happen without you - and can't wait to have you all back next year!

Judges
Pam Garrison, Hit Kicker 99.7
Annette Daly,  The Hot Pepper Queen

Businesses/Restaurants
Brookville Restaurant
Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar
Maya Restaurant
McGrady's Irish Pub
Monticello Media
The Whiskey Jar

Home Cooks/Businesses
Bailey Crews and Marcus Baily
Courtney and Katie Eastlack
Butch 
Kelly Sebesta
Molly Akeel
Pam Whorley
Wes Ammons
Zenas Choi

Sponsors
Main Street Arena
Monticello Media
US Navy
McDonald's
Comcast Spotlight
The Sasha Farmer Team
Virginia Tent Rental 

Downtown Chili Showdown

Pull out your aprons because our annual chili cook-off is right around the corner! We are certain that this will be our best chili cook-off ever, so make sure to read below for all the fun details!

WHAT:
We will be teaming up with Main Street Arena and Monticello Media this year to present the Downtown Chili Showdown this year! The event promises to be bigger and better than ever with a Restaurant/Business entry level, special judged categories and opportunities to win cash & prizes.

WHEN:
April 12th from 11:30am - 4:00pm

WHERE:
Main Street Arena on the Downtown Mall

HOW: 

• Hometown Cooks/Non-profits - $50 entry fee includes a 10'x10' booth with table, two event t-shirts and two tasting wristbands.  
• Businesses/Restaurants $150 includes an opportunity for on-air food sampling with Monticello Media radio DJs leading up to the event, a 10x10 booth with table, two event t-shirts and two wristbands for tasting (not to mention the opportunity to support a great cause!).
• All-you-can-eat Tasting Tickets - $10 tickets include access to all the chili one could ever want, entertainment from several great bands and lots of other fun event activities.

This year there will be prizes for Popular Choice, Blind Taste Test (judged by local celebrity judges) and Best Booth!

WHO:

Anyone and everyone! The bigger this event gets the better it is!  Interested in cooking?   Download your application here!

Not up for cooking? No problem! You can help by spreading the word and, of course, eating chili! And, by popular demand, we will be selling our infamous Red Shoe Cville boot mugs again this year!  Remember, the more people that eat, drink and cook with us, the more we can give back to The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville!

QUESTIONS?
Visit the Downtown Chili Showdown website at www.downtownchilishowdown.com  or email redshoecville@gmail.com with any questions regarding cooking, volunteering, attending and anything else you may need to ask.  We are SO excited about this event and cannot wait to celebrate it with all of you!