HUNDREDS of spice chasers descended on Garden Park for the first ever Cohuna Chilli Festival.
Attendees put their love of heat to the test, while also enjoying the cool spring evening.
Event organiser and Cohuna and District Progress Association member Tanya Harvey said the event had “exceeded expectations tenfold”.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to go, whether there’d even be a demand, or whether people would be into it,” she said.
“This certainly showed us that people were definitely into it, so we will definitely hold another one, and it’ll be even bigger and better.
“For our very first one, we could not have asked for a better outcome.”
While children made use of the free jumping castle and laser tag, the numerous food vans offered meals – with or without chilli.
Competition for the big money on offer in the festival’s two eating competitions was fierce.
More fierce than Ms Harvey had originally anticipated.
“We didn’t think there’d be anyone who could handle a Carolina reaper that would be coming to our little chilli festival,” she said.
“Yet we ended up with eight people in total that managed to choke down a Carolina reaper.
“They were absolutely ridiculous this year, we hit 2.2 million on the Scoville scale, so we had some really fantastic competitors.
“There was one bloke who dipped his finger in the sauce that the second- or third-hotter wings had come out of, who ended up skolling milk for half an hour.
“The lesson that the Cohuna Chilli Festival committee has learned is that we’ll be making it even hotter next year.”
More than one person stood up to the Carolina reaper heat, putter organisers in the position of having to award multiple winners.
That’s when Ms Harvey said she encountered local residents reaching into their hip-pocket to contribute towards the prize.
“It really blew my mind, having people come up to me and ask if they could contribute money or wanting to just put towards the prize money,” she said.
“It sort of made me tear up, because it was truly phenomenal to have received that support.
“Having people get behind it and support, and also enjoy themselves and have that incredible feedback, feels phenomenal.”
Money raised from the event will be spent on Cohuna’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
Ms Harvey said she couldn’t wait to get the ball rolling on next year’s chilli event.
“There’s no feeling quite like having people support an event,” she said.
“All it makes me want to do is just go bigger and harder next year.”
