Bay hots up with Chilli Fest

The 10th annual Chilli Festival, which takes place from tonight until Sunday at the Morewag Primary School sports fields in Harrower Road, Port Elizabeth, has attracted 50 stall holders from Nelson Mandela Bay, Jeffreys Bay, Bloemfontein and Worcester.

Event organiser Cathy van der Merwe said because of the 10th anniversary "we have gone big with advertising" and they hoped to attract more people to the event than last year.

"In the past we have always received between 3000 and 4000 people. Hopefully this time we'll attract more people," she said.

Each year the event is held at a different venue, which also benefits financially from the festival.

From 6pm there will be akaraoke party and the entry fee is "a tin of food which will be donated to a charity".

Tomorrow there will be a Miss Chilli event and a potjiekos competition. Entertainment for the day will be provided by 23 "great" singers from Nelson Mandela Bay, dancers and two bands.

Chilli lovers will go head to head at the chilli competition on Sunday, with chillies imported from the Hotazel farm in Oudtshoorn.

"There's a shortage of chillies in Nelson Mandela Bay, so we have to 'import' the chillies. I don't know what happened to the big chilli growers," Van der Merwe said.

Stall holders will sell "chilli-related food", plants and home-made sauces among other items.

She said party packs would be handed out to children who did not have money to pay the entry fee.

Van der Merwe this week also donated party packs to the grade 0 and Grade R classes at Morewag Primary School and Dr Viljoen Primary School, respectively. The packs were donated by McDonald's in Newton Park and Linton Grange.

Children are in for a treat as there will be a playland, paintball games and mini train rides.

The entrance fee tomorrow and on Sunday is R10 for adults and R5 for children.