The Chilympiad was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

tradition held annually in the second week of September from 1970 to 2002. It originated in San Marcos, Texas at

Aquarena Springs The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, formerly Aquarena Springs and later the Aquarena Center, is an educational center in San Marcos, Texas, that seeks to preserve the unique archeological and biological resources of Spring Lake. Fo ...

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

Hays County Hays County is located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. Hays County 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. H ...

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 Terlingua ( ) is a mining district and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Brewster County, Texas, United States. It is located near the Rio Grande and the villages of Lajitas and Study Butte, Texas, as well as the Mexican state ...

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

Luckenbach, Texas Luckenbach ( ) is an unincorporated community 13 miles (19 km) from Fredericksburg in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas. Named for German nobleman Jakob Luckenbach, who helped settle the Texas Hill Country in 1845, Luckenbach is known as ...

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, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

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