Salsa Fest 2013

Yesterday we went to Salsa Fest, a yearly Safford tradition that's held every year in the old downtown area. Just walking up to the thing, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart from any other street fair.  It's riddled with vendors selling kettle corn, soft pretzels, ice cream, snow cones, and cotton candy, as well as the usual advertisements for various area companies and artisans.

It's the add-ons that make the fair unique. For example, this year they launched a half-dozen hot air ballons from the fairgrounds and landed them at Salsa Fest. For some odd reason, there was also a local car show and a local art contest, as well as musical performances and several performances from the local competitive dance studio, which apparently regularly competes in Vegas as well as appearing at the UofA from time to time. All good stuff.

The anchor attractions, of course, are a salsa making competition, a salsa eating competition, and  a jalapeno eating contest, all of which cost money and all of which the local Lion's Club uses to fund their yearly operations and charitable activities. For $5, you can get a big bag of chips and a tray upon which the salsa making competitors pile sample cups filled with their culinary concoctions. After trying each one, you get to vote. 

Cairn votes for her favorite salsa, #55. (The least spicy one).

    None of the salsas this year were so hot as to turn one's mouth into an instant furnace this year, and Cairn even found a mild one that she really enjoyed. Meanwhile, Gauge would have devoured all of the salsa if we had let him! As soon as he picked up that you scooped salsa with the chips, he was at it himself, and with big smiles at the taste! (He would then cry a little bit after he had too much, but a few seconds later he would be right back at it).

Gauge is a huge fan of chips and salsa.

   Carrie was instantly attracted to the eating contests; Not being familiar with the rules, I was meanwhile not so certain it was worth the pain, even after learning that there was prize money for the top three contestants. Carrie took the opportunity to call me a wuss and entered herself, which required a $5 entry fee. See the video below for the results:

Note that the video is not very good... I was holding two children in my arms so they could see at the same time as I was trying to take the video... this made me a bit inattentive at times.

Carrie ended out winning second place, which was worth $50 in prize money! She might have won first, except that the judge told her she wasn't done until she ate one more tomato chunk and that slowed her down significantly. Way to go Carrie!

There were also... predictable side effects. Carrie seemed to be half-convinced that the only reason she didn't throw up afterward is that we high-tailed it to a nearby Dairy Queen for an emergency milk-based celebration of her win. If you've watched the video, you know she's not the only one who almost lost her lunch. 

Notwithstanding all that, she has the good graces to share the prize money with the family, even after being told she didn't have to. She plans to buy unlimited ride bracelets for the whole family for the county fair (happening in about 2 weeks). Isn't she wonderful?