With vibrant colors, fiery sauces, and interesting flavors, the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is a spice enthusiast’s dream. Competition is fierce among local hot sauce makers vying for the crown.
The Hot Sauce Festival is a local event hosted by the Austin Chronicle every year since 1990. It brings together hot sauce, competition, and music. Attendees can vote for their favorite sauces to be awarded the People’s Choice Award, and proceeds from the festival go to the Central Texas Food Bank. LASA senior Maddie Davis spoke about her experience going to the festival for the first time this year.
“I heard about the festival from my friends who were already going,” Davis said. “Originally I wanted to go just to hang out with my friends, but once I won a free Schlotzsky’s hat and got around to trying the hot sauces, I decided I was there for the hot sauces too.”
Jon Sheldon, the co-owner of a hot sauce company called Freaky Ferments, explained that he was prepared to compete. Every weekend, he and his fellow enthusiasts try out new recipes, so he has a prior passion for hot sauce.
“It is an absolute blast to share our work and passion with like-minded people who love hot sauce and spicy food,” Sheldon said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to have people try our sauces.”
The festival offers a unique Austin experience for many people, like Cesar Rodriguez. Rodriguez is an award-winning hot sauce maker at the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival
“The fact that I was sweating in the summer, eating hot stuff,” Rodriguez said. “Yet still finding a way to enjoy Austin’s brutal summer is what Austin is all about to me.”
The aim of the festival is to find the best hot sauce in Austin, with voting from both judges and the people. However, for Sheldon, the true value of the hot sauce festival is not the accolades, but the joy of sharing his hot sauce with others.
“The responses to our sauces were overwhelmingly positive,” Sheldon said. “Having someone seek you out because they are excited and interested in what you are doing is far more important to us than a ribbon. Having someone light up at the booth, excited to try our sauces and decide to add them to their daily meals, is more rewarding than a bronze pepper paperweight.”
According to Cassie Arredondo, the lead producer of the Hot Sauce Festival, the event has gone through some drastic changes due to many outside variables. Although the festival has changed over the years, Arredondo and her team do their best to keep the festival as true to the original as they can.
“We’ve worked hard to maintain the spirit of the original event while adjusting the format to be more sustainable, both financially and logistically,” Arredondo said. “That meant a mix of rethinking the venue, the ticketing model, and how we engage with both attendees and longtime partners like the Central Texas Food Bank.”
At the festival, Sheldon finds that the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is more than just an annual event. To him, it’s a community of hot sauce aficionados coming together to create something bigger than themselves.
“Hot sauce is definitely something that brings people together,” Sheldon said. “Finding a home, finding a community, and finding common ground are essential for a functioning society to grow and last. So why not build it on the love of hot sauce? And Austin is definitely weird enough for it to work there. I don’t see the festival going anywhere except bigger and better. We love being there, and others do too.”
In the future, according to Arredondo, the festival will remain a unique part of the Austin community. But it also has room to improve and become an increasingly sustainable event for The Austin Chronicle to put on.
“I hope the festival continues to grow while staying true to its roots by giving back to the community,” said Arredondo. “Supporting local businesses, and celebrating the hot sauce makers that look forward to bringing the heat to Austin every year.”
Sheldon is adamant about hot sauce lovers, both new and old, joining the community. Although the competition is daunting, the festival is a place for both newcomers and veterans alike to come together, create a community, and enjoy spicy food, according to Sheldon.
“I highly encourage others to participate,” Sheldon said. “It is an absolute blast! Whether you are just a fan of spicy foods or a hot sauce company, the Austin Chronicle is a fantastic way to try something new and meet like-minded people.”
