The Chilympiad was a

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

tradition held annually in the second week of September from 1970 to 2002. It originated in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

, at Aquarena Springs, but in 1974, was relocated to its permanent headquarters at the

Hays County Hays County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its official population had reached 241,067. The county seat is San Marcos. Hays, alon ...

Civic Center, also in San Marcos. The event was a competition of chili cooking. Winners of the contest automatically qualified for the World Championship Chili Cookoff at Terlingua, Texas. The rules were few and simple, being no more than: # All chili must be made from scratch at the site of the contest. # Women are barred from entering the contest as

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

s. In response to the second rule, another cookoff was established in

Luckenbach, Texas Luckenbach ( ) is an unincorporated town 13 miles (19 km) from Fredericksburg in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States. Named for Carl Albert Luckenbach, son of the early settler Jacob Luckenbach, the town is known as a ven ...

, named "Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned," in which the winners similarly qualify for the world championship cookoff. In 2001, the Chilympiad was scheduled for September 14 and 15. The

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

severely impacted participation and attendance at the event. The event lost $30,000. Attendance improved for 2002, but the event lost $19,000. Chilympiad was cancelled for 2003. Although the El Jefe Association, which organized the annual event, hoped to revive the festival in 2004, they were not able to recoup from previous losses, and was terminated hereafter.

References

External links

* Cooking competitions in the United States San Marcos, Texas Festivals in Texas Food and drink festivals in the United States Tourist attractions in Hays County, Texas Recurring events established in 1970 Chili con carne festivals {{Texas-stub