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World Championship Chili Cook-off
Festival
The most prestigious chili cooking competition in the United States, held annually in a remote Texas ghost town near the Mexican border.
6 NOV
Terlingua, Texas, United States
Held in the remote former mining town of Terlingua, near Big Bend National Park, this competition has been run by the Chili Appreciation Society International since 1967 and is widely regarded as the most prestigious chili cook-off in the country. Winning here carries real weight in competitive chili circles.
The event's remote desert setting has become part of its identity — competitors camp out for days, and the festival has a genuinely rugged, old-Texas character that's hard to replicate at a more conventional food festival.
Highlights
- ✓Running since 1967
- ✓Most prestigious chili cook-off in the US
Getting In
🎟️Ticket required
Since
📅1967
Some recipe photos courtesy of Openverse and Wikimedia Commons contributors, used under Creative Commons licenses.