Breckenridge Mountain Rotary Chilly Chili Cook Off

As part of Ullr Fest, the Breckenridge rotary club sponsors an annual chilly chili cook-​off. This year was its fourth and I was so pleased to be able to attend. We were happy to see that it was an indoor event, since the River Walk Center can go either way.
We paid $ 20 at the door (although could have paid $ 15 online in advance) and were given tester cups, a spoon, and four tickets to vote for favorites. You go booth to booth, as you might wine or beer tasting, and get your cup filled up. Both green and red chili, both veggie and meat: beef, chicken, pork, and even seafood. Each booth also indicated the level of heat: mild, medium, and hot. After trying one hot, I decided to keep with medium and mild. Everyone from local restaurants to local residents compete, and former winners aren’t too modest to show off previous year’s trophies. There were probably 50 different booths, each with typically 2 or 3 different chili’s to try.
Needless to say, you wont go home hungry but you might go home with a stomach ache if you didn’t take your Beano beforehand… and I didn’t. Some booths have chips and salsa as an added bonus, and some booths offer sour crème, cheese, and onions for some extra fixins. They have bevies for the thirsty (and you will get thirsty), reasonable priced for a festival of this type.
Overall, it’s a fun environment with people who are excited for you to taste their chili. You are given a wrist band to go in and out of the building, so you can break up your time. The event ran from 3 – 7 this year, but the time goes by surprisingly quick. The layout of the booths is a little tight, making it awkward to stand and eat your chili in front of the booths. We found that getting a table on the outskirts of the booths to eat and then going in to fill up again was a nice alternative to feeling like you are in the way of other tasters.
I hope to return next year. I wish I lived nearby to compete!