THERE is less than a week until heat-seekers descend upon Cohuna aiming to conquer the burn of the first Cohuna Chilli Festival.
The town is set to kick-off the Grand Final long weekend with a fiery start, with the festival beginning at Cohuna Garden Park at 5:30pm this Friday.
A variety of live music, kids activities and all things chilli are bound to wow attendees, while there is big money up for grabs in two eating competitions.
The event is being run through the Cohuna and District Progress Association, with sponsorship from Nutrien Harcourts and Murray Mallee Wood Fired Pizza.
Entries for both competitions are locked in.
There is $250 up for grabs for those contending with a selection of wings coated in hot sauce.
The day’s main event, with a $750 cash prize, is the chilli eating competition, where competitors will battle one another, and a selection of the hottest chillies to determine a winner.
Festival organiser Tanya Harvey said the community support had been “fantastic”.
“We have been astonished,” she said.
“Local organisations and businesses have been so supportive with donations of things like trestle tables and fencing.
“That’s been such a help, so to see the support really shows how much people want to see fun events here in town.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of interest from people here in Cohuna, as well as from all of the surrounding towns.
“We want to show people in the town that we can create our own really good events, that will interest everyone.
“The chilli eating competition will be a great time for everyone, but then we will also have things like laser-tag and jumping castles for the kids.”
Ms Harvey said she hoped the festival would be popular enough to make it an annual event.
“If we get the interest this year, the plan is to absolutely go bigger and better next year,” she said.
“Our aim from this event isn’t to make a whole heap of profit, the goal is to have a great event that raises enough money to be able to pay for the next event.
“This is all about ensuring there are events here in Cohuna for people to enjoy.
Tickets for the Cohuna Chilli Festival can be found at https://www.ticketleap.events/events/cohunachillifestival
