Matt and Gabe, Fresno Chile Festival

Posted by Veronica Stumpf on Monday, June 20, 2011 · 4 Comments 

Fresno had its first Chile Festival at the Fulton Mall on June 18, 2011.

John Martin, the founder of the festival, said to the Fresno Bee that the celebration was “something that Fresno could be proud of.”  Seeing how Gilroy showcases its garlic, he decided that Fresno should celebrate the chili pepper named after it. The Fresno chili pepper is similar to a jalapeno but with a thinner wall, according to the Cook’s Thesaurus, making it a great ingredient for salsa. Not to be outdone, Wikipedia notes that our pride and joy is also significantly hotter than the jalapeno.

Highlights included food vendors, live music, a salsa recipe contest and a solar cooking contest.  We walked by in time for the second round of the chile-eating contest, so Ben got up close with his camera.

 

Contenders of the chile-eating contest, from left to right: Matt, Gabe, Benny, Ernest and Eve.

 

They breezed past the jalapenos to the habaneros. Benny, it seems, is trying to let it settle.

 

Finally, our last two contenders, Matt and Gabe. Cheers!

 

Gabe stays calm and collected. Matt, on the other hand ...

 

/uncomfortable hiccup

 

/dry gasp

 

"I'm all right."

 

After a valiant effort, he can't help but reach for the Aquafina.

 

As you can tell, we didn’t stay for long.  Go to Fresno Urban to watch the wonderful flamenco dancing that we missed.

Check out more photos of the Fresno Chile Festival.

 

Have a lovely day in Fresno!

Veronica Stumpf

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Comments
4 Responses to “Matt and Gabe, Fresno Chile Festival”
  1. Dan says:
    June 21, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    lol, great images Veronica. Thanks for sharing and them and your comments.

    Reply
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  1. Rose, Retired and Still Cookin’ : That Fresno Blog says:
    June 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    [...] met Rose at the Fresno Chile Festival. She struck a conversation with me as I ate, with indifference, a tamale I bought from a [...]

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  2. Lenny Sharlet, Engage 360 : That Fresno Blog says:
    June 22, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    [...] met Lenny and other members of Engage 360 at the Fresno Chile Festival. They were handing out paper fans to people in the infamous Fresno heat. Being the shy person I am, [...]

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  3. State of Downtown Breakfast : That Fresno Blog says:
    February 20, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    [...] will be events in attempt to lure more residents to downtown. The Fresno chile festival and bungee jumping at the Fulton Mall will take place this summer. There will be tours [...]

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