Chomp and Stomp

Saturday, Justin and I attended a festival in Cabbagetown called Chomp and Stomp. Cabbagetown in a neighborhood in Atlanta that is northeast of the I-20 and I-75/I-85 intersection. Chomp and Stomp has a chili cook-off, bluegrass music, and art booths. The festival officially begins at 11:00 a.m. and the chili serving begins at 12:00 p.m. Justin and I arrived at 11:40 a.m. and purchased our tasting spoons. Each person pays $5 for a spoon and that allows them to get samples of each booth's chili.



Due to limited street parking, Justin and I rode MARTA. As one of the sponsors of Chomp and Stomp, Fur Bus was shuttling people from the MARTA station to the festival. We piled on the Fur Bus with about twenty-five or thirty other people and zoomed through the streets.



This was the first year we have attended and we were warned to be there right at noon because the good booths run out of chili very quickly. I was not prepared for the large number of people. I knew there would be lots of people, but the crowding was overwhelming to me.





View 2010 Chomp & Stomp Festival Map in a larger map



At noon, the booths began serving chili samples and people immediately converged on the three narrow streets with the chili booths. It was unreal to me. You were surrounded by people and no one could move. We quickly found several groups of people we know and began tasting chili. I was at a disadvantage since I don't eat most meat. There were some vegetarian chilis, but not many, and the booth signs couldn't be seen because of the sea of people. I would wait in line, only to find out that that particular booth was serving beef/pork/Bambi's Mom/goat/etc. chili so I would move to the next line. I think I tasted maybe four chilis before I finally gave up. Most people were walking around with twenty or more empty sample cups. I was envious.



Justin and I moved to the next street and discovered that a lot of those booths were out of chili. It was only 12:30! We moved to the food vendors and shared a pumpkin cupcake from Oui Pastries. It was delicious! The cupcake was moist and the cream cheese frosting tasted so fresh. Mmmm. We wandered around for a little while longer and then made our way to the Fur Bus pick-up. We rode with another couple back to the MARTA station and headed back to our car.



Chomp and Stomp was fun and I'm sure I'll attend next year, but I may hang out in the park and avoid the chili crowd. I don't like crowds and that was wild. I should also mention that it was pretty cold. The temperature was in the 40s and the wind was blowing a little. It was perfect chili eating weather.