COMPETITION OVERVIEW
NOVEMBER 1-3, 2012
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
As one of the most popular foods on the planet, chili comes in many forms, but which one is the best? Is it the Traditional Red? Chili Verde? Or a ‘homestyle’ blend of whatever pleases your mouth?
The world’s best chili cooks spiced up the strip in Las Vegas at the World Open Chili Championship and to find out who has the best chili on the planet.
The World Food Championships selected 90 of the biggest and best chili cookoff events and awarded their winner with an automatic invitation to enter and compete at the World Food Championships. The events were selected from across all of the major chili cookoff sanctioning bodies. In addition to those 90 chili cooks, the WFC Competition Committee selected 5 champions and Just A Pinch selected 5 champions to compete for the title of World Open Chili Champion.
Friday, November 2 (Competition Chili)
Saturday, November 3 (Freestyle-People's Choice)
Location: Competition Square
Prize Purse: $25,000
Overall
Grand Champion - $10,000
2nd $5,000
3rd $1,500
4th $1,000
5th $750
Each Category
WFC Competition Chili:
1st $1,000
2nd $750
3rd $500
WFC Freestyle Chili:
1st $1,000
2nd $750
3rd $500
WFC Freestyle Chili - People's Choice:
1st $1,000
2nd $750
3rd $500
The WFC will be sending invitations to the Champions of the following competitions:
International Chili Society
50 contestants (comprised by the Red and Verde champions at the following 26 events):
Laughlin Regional - Laughlin, NV
Great Forsyth Regional Cookoff - Forsyth, IL
Sunshine Regional - Kissimmee, FL
99.9 Kiss Country Chili Cookoff - Pembroke Pines, FL
Gulf Coast Regional – St George Island, FL (Red only)
Capital Market Green Chili Shootout – Charleston, WV (Verde only)
New England Regional – Somers, CT
DC Chili Cookoff – Washington DC
New Jersey State Chili Cookoff - Toms River, NJ
Tustin Street Fair & Chili Cookoff - Tustin, CA
River City - Old Town Elk Grove Regional - Elk Grove
Sangamon County Fair Regional Chili Cookoff - New Berlin, IL
Smoke on the Water – Charleston, WV
Big Bear Regional Cookoff - Big Bear Lake, CA
Fire on the Mountain Regional - Snowshoe, WV
Western Regional – San Diego, CA
Illinois State Fair Regional Chili Cookoff - Springfield, IL
Town of Superior Regional - Superior, CO
All Ohio Regional - Cincinnati, OH
West Virginia State ChiliFest - Huntington, WV
Kansas State - Wichita Wagonmasters - Wichita, KS
World's Championship Chili Cookoff - Charleston, WV
Great Lakes Regional - Plymouth, MI
North Carolina State - Havelock, NC
Chillinois Regional - Taylorville, IL
Oklahoma State - Owasso Harvest Fest Chili Cookoff - Owasso, OK
Chili Appreciation Society International
30 contestants (comprised by the overall champion at the following 30 events):
Tri State Open – Amarillo, TX
South of the Border Intl Open - Puerto Penasco, MX
San Miguel International Chili Cook-off – San Miguel de Allende, MX
Horned Toad Regional Chili Cookoff – Rankin, TX
Arizona State Open – Casa Grande, AZ
Cowtown Chili Cook-off – Fort Worth, TX
Texas Men’s State – Johnson City, TX
Texas Ladies State – Seguin, TX
Larry Joe Taylor Annual – Stephenville, TX
Kansas State Open CCO – Overland Park, KS
Howdy Roo Chili Cookoff – Marble Falls, TX
Chopps POD Cookoff – Puerto Penasco, MX
Alabama State Open Chili Championship – Hoover, AL
NC CASI Chili Championship – Greensboro, NC
Southwest Open Chili Championship – Durant, OK
Texas Open Chili Cookoff – San Antonio, TX
Red Hot & Wild Kokomo CCO – Kokomo, IN
Steel Horse Saloon CCO – Phoenix, AZ
Three-I Regional Open Championship – Ottumwa, IA
Peppers on the Plaza – Cheyenne, WY
State of Colorado Chili Championship – Grand Lake, CO
Chili Cook-off In the Pines – Pinetop, AZ
Cloudcroft Chili Cookoff – Cloudcroft, NM
Chugwater Chili Cookoff – Chugwater, WY
Texas Society of the Virgin Islands Cookoff – St Thomas, VI
Four Corners Regional Cookoff – Red River, NM
US National Open Chili Championship – Buda, TX
Florida State Open Chili Championship – Homosassa, FL
Woodbridge California State – Woodbridge, CA
Terlingua International – Terlingua, TX
Tolbert
10 contestants (comprised by the overall champion at the following 10 events):
Cedar Hall Special Olympics Chili & BBQ Cookoff– Lockhart, TX
Tolbert's Men's State Chili Championship – Maxdale, TX
Washington State Chili Championship – Kalama, WA
Mud Dauber Fest/Chili Cook Off– Luckenbach, TX
Tolbert Chili and BBQ Cook Off – Glen Rose, TX
Roughneck Chili & BBQ Cookoff – Luling, TX
Texas Ladies State – Blanco, TX
Armed Forces International Chili Cook-Off – San Angelo, TX
Original Terlingua International Frank X Tolbert – Terlingua TX
WFC Special Invitations
5 contestants
TBD
Just A Pinch
5 contestants
TBD
UPDATE (7/2)
The World Food Championships committee has adjusted the World Open Chili Championship categories to celebrate chili in all of its forms and find the one true World Open Chili Champion. The new competition categories will be Competitive and Freestyle. The Competitive category will challenge the pro chiliheads to whip up their best competition-style Traditional Red chili. The Freestyle category, however, is going to be a free-for-all that can include practically ANY type of chili or ingredients imaginable.
Turn-in times will be:
FRIDAY: Competitive 3 p.m.
SATURDAY: Freestyle 3 p.m.
Judging for the Competitive category will be performed by expert and certified chili judges only. Freestyle Judging will be based on a combined scoring system comprised of both experts and people's choice. The winner of the World Open Chili Championship will have the best cumulative score across both the Competitive and Freestyle categories.
The Grand Champion and category winners will be announced Saturday at 6 p.m.
If you would like to receive updates about additional World Food Championships information, please contact us.
The following competitions are automatic qualifiers for the 2012 World Burger Championship:
United States Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| WFC: World Food Champions - 2012 - 2013 | US |