Fairgrounds hosting pit master and chili classic

| April 29, 2023

The third fair food weekend will return Thursday through Saturday, May 4-6, to the Coshocton County Fairgrounds with a twist. This year the food vendors will provide food in conjunction with the first ever Coshocton County Pit Master and Chili Classic.

“The vision behind the original fair food weekend was to eventually be able to build upon just the food to make it a weekend event for people to enjoy,” said Rick Williamson, Coshocton County Fairboard Director. The classic is sponsored by Twisted Image Cycles and Buehler’s Fresh Foods Coshocton.

Designed to showcase area grilling and smoking talents, the Pit Master portion of the weekend will be a judged event with the winning meat preparer taking bragging rights and cash prize as the Pit Master.

The chili classic will allow cooks of all ages to mix up a pot of their special chili to compete for prizes in several categories including people’s choice.

“With so many varieties of chili that can be entered, the people’s choice award is the chili’s version of pit master,” Williamson said.

Attendees will be able to purchase a voting card which gets them a sample of each chili to base their vote on. In addition to tasting the chili, attendees will be able to purchase a variety of foods from the fair food vendors.

Expanding the fair food weekend wouldn’t be complete without live entertainment by area bands.

Newark band, Pick-N-Sticks, will take the stage at 5 p.m. Friday performing upbeat blues and southern rock music. Saturday’s line up will include Bourbon Legend at 5 p.m. and Charlie Bonnet III at 7 p.m.

“Charlie does a wide variety with his acoustic sets, anything from country to rock to southern rock,” Williamson said. “Bourbon Legend is a local band with a great mix of Americana, bluegrass and folk music for attendees to enjoy.”

Bands will perform under the Rotary Pavilion where weekend activities will center around. Bands times may vary due to award presentations.

Pit master participants will pick up bundles of meat at 5 p.m. Friday to prepare for Saturday’s competition. All participants will prepare 10 pounds of pork butt, three pounds of ribs and four chicken quarters on the grounds. Contestants will not be selling their products.

Chili entries should be fully prepared and brought to the event for judging.

Money raised throughout the weekend will be used for general upgrades to the fairgrounds.

Admission is free, however there is a $20 entry fee for chili participants, and a $100 fee for pit master participants which includes their three meats for judging. Visit the Coshocton County Fair Facebook page for full contest details.

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Category: People & Places

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