5th Annual Chilli Festival

Due to popular demand, the 5th Annual Chilli Festival will take place on both Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September this year (previously just Sunday) at the Dorothy Clive Garden.

This special fundraising event attracts hundreds of visitors and families from the local area and will take place from 10.00am to 5.30pm on both days.

The two-day event will be fun packed, including talks & demos about chillies, spices, food & drink by a range of local food experts. There will also be a chilli market selling plants, seeds, oils, sauces, chutneys, jams, drink & spices.

Plus, there will be live music from various musicians throughout the weekend including: Mediterranean and flamenco rhythms from the Synergy Band duo, authentic mariachi music from Mariachi Loco, Indie-pop music from The Formula, latin jazz from Heidi Browne, reggae from The Penkhull Ukulele band, Brazilian guitar, sitar and tabla music & also hot Latin rhythms from Cuban salsa Band and salsa DJ. Local Salsa School 'Telford Salsa', run by Sylvie Daw, will be at the event to teach and demonstrate how to shake your hips!

The popular 'spice and chilli trail' will be back which takes place in the 12 acre hillside garden; visitors can learn about spice and chillies with interactive stations including tasting samples, demonstrations and music.

The Happy Donkey Company will also be at the event this year providing donkey rides for children. There will be a disco bouncy castle, face painting and other games for children.

There will also be three contests at this year's festival:

• Saturday 17th Sept, 11am and 3pm: The first ever Staffordshire UK Chilli Cook Off -- open to anyone to enter, teams must make a gallon of chilli con carne in four hours for the other event visitors to taste. Entry is £10 per team, first prize is £150.00, second £75 and third is £25. The winners of the 20167 UK Grand Final will win a whopping £1000 and will also qualify for the World Chilli Championships in the USA!
• Best Chilli Sauce Contest -- taking place on Saturday 17th September, entries must be submitted a week before the event -- please see the website for application forms and prize details.
• Visitors can also look forward to the much anticipated Chilli Eating Contest which takes place at 4.15pm on Sunday 18th September and where 15 contestants will go head-to-head and eat whole chillies. The last remaining person who chews and swallows the hottest whole chilli, wins the competition and a prize! This will be supported by the local Community Fire Station team from Loggerheads who will be on standby to put out on fiery situations! Entries will be taken on the Sunday only and will cost £10.per person to enter.

There will be delicious spicy-inspired food available all day in the garden tearoom & street food as well as a bar selling local chilli beers and cider, plus cocktails.

Admission to this special fundraising event will be £5.00 per adult, free for children between 0-4 and £2.00 for children who are between 5- 17 years. There is no pre-booking, just turn up on the day. Members are the Dorothy Clive Garden are admitted for free.

The event will start at 10.00am and end at 5.30pm on both days. For further info please go to the events section of the website: www.dorothyclivegarden.co.uk or call tel: 01630 647 237.

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