The second Cohuna Chilli Festival was held on Friday night and organisers say it was a huge success.

Held on the public holiday of the AFL grand final weekend, it drew visitors from across the state. With weather to wow, food to feast on, and an atmosphere to applaud, the chilli festival had something for everyone and kept patrons entertained into the night.

Following feedback from last year’s event, where the three food vendors sold out, this year 10 vendors attended offering all types of food – with a spicy kick for those who can handle it, and plenty for those who preferred a plain palate, and still, several of those vendors sold out. “That really shows how many people were there and how much support we had from the area,” event co-ordinator Tanya Harvey of the Cohuna and District Progress Association said.

“It went amazingly. It exceeded last year by a long shot in terms of support and positive feedback. Last year, we had around 700 people; this year, we estimate between 8 and 900, and we added another two competitions.”

Those who claimed to be chilli connoisseurs entered the four competitions on offer – and formed part of the night’s entertainment – from devouring a bowl of chicken wings coated in a very hot sauce in the Fire Bowl Hot Wings Competition, to the Hot Wings Challenge – progressing from mild to extremely hot, to munching through progressively hotter chillis in the Brave Souls Chilli Eating Competition.

Leaving dignity at the door as they stepped up onto the elevated stage, it wasn’t just the desire to be crowned champion that was burning as they hastily devoured the food in front of them – a cup of milk nearby to douse the flames once they finished.

“We’ve discovered that people around the area can certainly handle the heat when it comes to hot food. We had an amazing nine winners across the four competitions,” said Tanya.

The fourth competition was the Braggin’ Rights Chilli Cook Off. Four people entered the inaugural event, sweating it out over the stove at home with their spicy delights voted on by the public at the event.

There was plenty to keep the kids busy with the bubble man, a jumping castle, laser tag, the meltdown and rock climbing, all organised and provided by Northern District Community Health (NDCH) Youth Events and Cohuna Neighbourhood House.

Live musician, Toli, entertained throughout the night, also provided by NDCH Youth Events.

Tanya praised the support given by sponsors, supporters and the community. “We had great community involvement,” she said. “The support from local businesses is phenomenal. Without the community involvement and the town backing us, we would not be able to put this event on. We hope the town understands how much we truly appreciate them supporting us.”

Having built on last year’s event following community feedback, the Progress Association will review feedback received from Friday’s event. Tanya hints at perhaps a mid-afternoon start to cater more for families, and competitions aimed at those who might want a less fiery experience.

“Last year, we had a lot of people say they couldn’t see the people competing in the competitions and there wasn’t enough food. This year, we listened and we made sure our competitors were on a stage, and we had a lot more food vans. There was a lot of appreciation from the community and the crowd that we didn’t just ignore them, we listened, because we want to improve on this event.”

Feedback for Friday’s event has been positive and helpful, and Tanya is keen to hear more. “Progress is looking for feedback to help make next year a bigger and better event. We want to hear this feedback, because that is what’s going to help us keep creating a better event for what is, realistically, an event for the community.”

For an event that’s organised entirely by a core group of around 15 volunteers putting in hundreds of hours over six months of planning, and brings on almost that many volunteers again on the day, the Cohuna Chilli Festival is an event that has cemented itself as a favourite and looks set to become a regular feature of the AFL long weekend. 

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 3 October 2024.