Twenty-six competitors took part in this year’s Mount Vernon Chili Cook-Off Saturday, Oct. 14, in uptown Mount Vernon.
Different varieties of chili were present, from the non-traditional variants to the tried and true variants.
Competitors started their cooking of chili at roughly noon Saturday morning.
While the weather was crisp fall air and clouds threatened the continued rain that had been plaguing the area since Wednesday, that rainfall held off for the entirety of the festival.
Tastings began at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon, and vendors started running out at the 6:15 p.m. time frame, as more than 300 people were in attendance for the festival.
Non-Traditional chili winners were The Chili Consortium (led by Dave Sherman) and second place went to East Meets West (led by Anton Rood).
Traditional chili winners were the Cornell Women’s Basketball team (led by coach Brent Brase) and second place went to Darren Jablonski.
People’s choice winners for the year were team Backdraft (led by Brett Rickard).
Hog Call Chili works at blending some of his chili ahead of competition Saturday, Oct. 14.