Spice up your next vacation! Hot Sauce Festivals are popping up all over the U.S.
This where spicy food lovers can indulge in fiery food experiences - sampling thousands of different sauces, chilies, salsas, and gourmet food and drink. We’ve rounded up an impressive list (in no particular order) of the most sizzling festivals from around America.
You can start planning your hot and spicy road trip now!
- ZestFest: Irving, TX. This annual event held in January attracts thousands of people who can enjoy spicy food samples, live music, live cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs, and the spicy wing challenge contest.
- National Fiery Foods Show: Albuquerque, NM. Held in March, this show opens to both the trade and public features over 200 exhibitors sampling their best hot sauces, spicy bbq sauces, and other products packing the heat. Watch live food and drink demos from local chef personalities.
- New York City Hot Sauce Expo: Brooklyn, NY. Two days in April the Brooklyn Expo Center turns into a fiery place where you sample a wide selection of hot products, from spicy chocolates, hot sauces, bloody marys, and salsas. Also can watch live the Guinness Book of Records Pepper Eating Contest, the margarita and bloody mary challenge, and even a chihuahua beauty pageant. Also, see the California Hot Sauce Expo produced by the same event team held in Long Beach in July and the Arizona Hot Sauce Expo in November.
- Hop Sauce Festival: Long Beach Haven, NJ. Mixing the best of both worlds - Hot Sauce + Beer! Enjoy over 20 craft beers on display, amazing food from local restaurants, hot sauce vendors, live music, and their VIP package includes a bag of hot sauce swag to take home with you!
- I Like it Hot Festival: Largo, FL. It’s always sunny and spicy in Florida. This is the state’s largest gourmet and spicy food show. Admission is only $5 and you can sign up to enter the Amateur Salsa competition and a lick-a-thon contest to lick the world’s hottest lollypop for a chance at a trophy!