1/25/24 - Travelin' Together Series: Chili Cookoff

Colder months bring the opportunity of participating in Chili Cookoff events. This weekend: Kalamazoo and St. Joseph.

St. Joseph, MI — Whether visitors like their chili mild, sweet or fiery hot they will find more than 20 ways to chase away the winter chill during the return of the annual Chili Tour on January 26. The event takes place from 5:00p-8:00p in downtown St. Joe. Merchants and restaurants will offer samples of their favorite chili recipes in hopes of earning the People’s Choice Award determined by popular vote or the Chili Pepper Award determined by a panel of judges.

“There is a fee of $5 per map which lists the participating locations and doubles as your voting ballot,” said Daniele Crevier, events & operations manager of St. Joe Today. “A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen.” Both winners of the Chili Pepper Award and the People’s Choice Award will be announced on Monday, January 29. Thank you to our 2024 Chili Tour sponsor, The Market.

Chili Tour Maps will be available for purchase at the St. Joe Today Welcome Center (301 State Street) from 12:00p-7:45p on Friday, January 26. Maps will also be available for purchase at The Market (301 Main Street) from 5:00p-7:45p. Event attendees are encouraged to turn in their maps to either location at the end of the night to vote for their favorite chili as well as be entered in a drawing for a $25 St. Joe Today Gift Certificate. The winner will be notified on Monday, January 29.

For more information on the Chili Tour, visit stjoetoday.com/chili.

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Kalamazoo - Kalamazoo's downtown Chili Cook-Off is coming back for its 19th year on Jan. 27, 2024.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 2 p.m.  Saturday, January 27. Participants will meet at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Center for New Media at 100 east Michigan Avenue to get a bingo card and spoons (the commemorative spoon will cost $6.)  From there chili seekers will head to participating businesses to taste food and scan QR codes to vote and rate the meals.  

Patrons can stop by different areas of downtown Kalamazoo to sample close to 30 different chilis at participating businesses, event organizers said. 

Starting at 100 E. Michigan Ave., attendees can walk or ride a free shuttle to visit locations, sample the chili, and vote for their favorite. 

There are four different categories for 2024: best retail, best restaurant, overall people's choice, and judge's choice, officials said. 

For the first time, the chili cook-off will feature local food influencers to help select the judge's choice winner. 

During the first 90 minutes of the event, attendees may find free parking at the Epic and Kalamazoo Mall parking ramps. 

A full list of participating businesses can be found here.

For more information visit downtownkalamazoocookoff.com.