A 5-Alarm Chili-Fest in New Hope

Local firefighters respond to Chili-fest blaze

The chili wasn't the only thing packing the heat today, January 30th, at the annual New Hope/Lambertville Chili Cook-off, held at the Occasions banquet hall in New Hope. After about an hour and a half of sampling River Horse beers along with the delicious chili competition at the festival, including local favorites like Marsha Browns; Triumph Brewery; Havana; & Bitter Bobs, the celebration was cut short when a lit sterno was knocked over, causing a table to quickly become engulfed in flames. Bucks Happening happened to be on the scene to cover the action (we wouldn't miss a chili cook-off!).

Luckily, the fire was controlled until the fire department arrived to secure the building. Hundreds of attendees were forced to cut their Chili cook-off celebration off early as the event never re-opened.

Logan Inn at the Chili Festival

While many foodie fans didn't get the chance to cast their votes for the coveted prize of fan-favorite, the judges still named the top 3 chili contestants of the 2011 cook-off:

1st Place: Havana's

2nd Place: Occasions

3rd Place: Marsha Brown's

Prior to the fire, the cook-off provided a fun and relaxing atmosphere to sample a wide range of chili from some of the best restaurants in Bucks County. Triumph provided a chocolate chili made with their Belgian-style beer. Marsha Brown incorporated fresh bison meet from local Thorpe farm, and Logan Inn pulled out all the stops with Kobe Beef chili. There were many more that we didn't get a chance to sample due to the unforeseen evacuation. We'll just have to go back in 2012!

Check out our photo recap of the 2011 Winterfest Chili Festival: