Spice, sports, and slam dunks: Morganton’s ACC Chili Cookoff brings the heat
Local realtor Polly Leadbetter serves chili at the 2024 ACC Chili Cookoff.
Hayden Stout serves himself a bowl of chili during last year’s chili cookoff at the Morganton Community House.
David Brickner, Chris Jernigan, and Wayne Giese (from left) enjoy tasting the amateur chili entries at the 2024 ACC Chili Cook Off.
The 2024 ACC Chili Cookoff was a hit. This year’s event promises to be as well.
Feeling a little chilly?
You can warm up, have a delicious, all-you-can-eat meal, and enjoy some hot hoops action on Friday, March 7, when Morganton’s Downtown Development Association sponsors its 31st annual ACC Chili Cookoff.
The popular event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Morganton Community House, at 120 N. King St. Local restaurants, businesses, and individuals arrive at the Community House early on cookoff day with their best chili in tow, ready to compete for bragging rights, trophies, medals, and downtown bucks, which can be used just like cash in Morganton businesses.
According to Community Events Coordinator Kasey Goodfellow, this year’s chili cookoff is happening earlier than usual, a week prior to the ACC Tournament, so organizers are adding a few special twists to the competition.
Goodfellow explained attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a bracket competition, when they will predict winners for ballgames throughout the upcoming ACC tournament.
“We’ll do prizes for the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, and the Final Four,’ she said. “Winners will be contacted after the ACC tournament to be given their prizes.”
While the bracket contest will be fun, the real star of the day will be the simmering pots of chili.
Goodfellow said restaurants and businesses sign up to bring four gallons of chili to the competition. A panel of judges will use a blind taste test to choose the winners. Those chilies, along with the other pro entries, will then be doled out to the public.
The winners will be chosen and their trophies displayed before the event opens to the public.
“We put those trophies with names at the front door so people can come in and see them,” Goodfellow explained. “Then they can go taste the professional chilies and see if they agree with the judges.”
A $10 ticket will entitle an individual to an all-you-can-eat chili lunch with all the fixings, cornbread, salad, drinks, and dessert. To go orders and delivery in the downtown area will also be available. Delivery orders will be $10.
Folks who have an appetite for competition can get in on the fun by entering a Crock-Pot full of chili in the amateur contest.
“Contestants bring in a working, a WORKING Crock-Pot full of chili,” Goodfellow said. “It should be labeled on the bottom so we will know where we can return it.”
Ticket holders will have the chance to vote for their favorite amateur chilies by dropping red beads in jars beside each Crock-Pot. The chili with the most beads at the end of the event will receive the People’s Choice award.
The Downtown Development Association will provide a festive atmosphere for the cookoff. Participants can shoot hoops on a goal in front of the Community House for a chance to win prizes and can also pose for a picture with Morganton’s popular Red Hot Chili Pepper mascot.
Big screen TVs showing ACC basketball games from previous years will also add to the fun.
Tickets are available for purchase before the event from DDA board members, online, at the Main Street Office, or at the door on the day of the event. Applications for amateur and commercial chili recipes are now available online at downtownmorganton.com on the Upcoming Events tab.
Sponsors for the ACC Chili Cookoff include Presenting Sponsor Burke County Farm Bureau Insurance; SERVPRO; James Tool; Amy Brooks, DDS; Table Rock Pharmacy & Compounding; Pepsi; KICKS 103.3 WKVS; Food Matters Market & Cafe; Luxury Landscapes Irrigation; CoMPAS X-STREAM; and W. Donald Haugen.
Proceeds from the event go to sponsor the projects supported by the Downtown Development Association, such as the annual Halloween downtown trick-or-treating and costume contest, the annual Christmas parade, sponsorship for a TGIF concert, and promotion of downtown Morganton as a premier shopping, dining, and business locale.
Sandra Wilkerson Queen is the arts & entertainment editor. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, ext. 2002, or sandra@thepaper.media.
