Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity: CSU Students Test their Taste Buds in Annual Chili Challenge

Colorado State University is spicing up this week with the 11th annual Housing and Dining Services Chili Challenge. During the five-day challenge, CSU students eat every last drop of a daily bowl of chili; the recipes get hotter and hotter as the week progresses. The week-long event concludes on Friday with the finalists eating the hottest bowl in the challenge along with a habanero chili.

The contest is held each year in conjunction with Poudre Fire Authority as part of Fire Prevention Week.

When/Where: The event takes place from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 7-11 at the Corbett Hall Dining Center.

Details: Student, faculty, and staff participants are required to eat one bowl of chili each of the five days of the competition.

More than 250 students start the competition, and each must finish an 8-ounce bowl of chili that gets increasingly hotter each day. Students who cannot finish the bowl are not able progress to the next day’s challenge. Students who finish all five bowls of chili and eat a habanero on the final day earn an “I Survived” T-shirt. About 120 participants typically make it to the final round.

Poudre Fire Authority firefighters serve the chili and use the week to educate students about fire prevention.

CSU Housing and Dining staff prepare the chili for the contest, using legendary hot sauces, including several local recipes, to make the competition challenging.

All members of the campus community who have a meal plan are eligible to register. Daily giveaways and prizes are awarded to participants.

Contact: Reporters are asked to RSVP to Kayla Green at (970) 491-7099 or Kayla.Green@colostate.edu. RSVPs are requested so that reporters can be accommodated and allowed into the dining center.

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