It's that time of year again. The DC101 Chili Cook-Off will take place Saturday, May 22 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC! As readers of this blog likely know, I won this cookoof last year (see photos here) and we're looking forward to even bigger and better things this year.
Bigger than winning, you ask? Absolutely! This year I'm going with the intention of marketing and promoting T-Rev's Stiff Willi Chili from morning to night. Rather than entering the International Chili Society-sanctioned event, which is the one I won last year in the prestigious ICS Red category, I will be competing in the Freestyle category. The primary difference between the two categories is that whereas you must cook your chili on-site for the ICS contest, Freestyle cooks may prepare theirs in advance.
While I admit that there may not be as much glory associated with winning the Freestyle contest, I will be much freer to talk to partygoers and promote my brand and products than I would were I confined to my tent until 2 p.m. worrying about my competition chili. Instead, this year I'll be able to just heat up my competition batch while placing much more focus on selling t-shirts and spice mix, enjoying the bands, and just plain ol' having fun with the crowd. And this year the gorgeous Stiff Willi Girls will be at the DC101 cookoff!
Perhaps best of all, this year's cookoff will feature Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains, two bands that were huge favorites of mine back in my college days, so this concert should be a blast. If you're a fan of T-Rev's Stiff Willi Chili, grab a ticket for the cookoff now and come up and party with us! The t-shirts are going to be great this year and sell for only $10, and I'll even be giving away free drink tickets and other promotional items at my booth. We rocked the world championship back in October, so don't miss out on one of the best days of the summer!