Flagstaff Chili Festival

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Flagstaff Chili Festival Route 66 Chili Cook Off and AZ State Chili Championship. Annually in August in Flagstaff ICS sanctioned events.

The International Chili Society (ICS) is a non-profit organization that sanctions chili cookoffs with judging and cooking rules & regulations. These events are world wide and benefit charities or non-profit organizations. All winners of ICS sanctioned cookoffs qualify to compete for cash prizes and awards at the World's Championship Chili Cookoff held each year in October. The ICS is the largest food contest, festival organization in the world. Please access our "Events" located under "More" under the top banner on our main page for information on dates and times for both of our Cookoffs.

10/12/2026

Fans of Chili in Flagstaff, this week at the Homecoming game tailgate, there will be a lot of chili available. Reds, Verdes, and who knows what else? FCS President Paul Whitney will have his award winning People's Choice pot out there to sample and Lt. Lance Wigley from the NAU PD will have the chili he competed with in the First Responders Chili Challenge at the Flagstaff Chili Festival. Come on down to the Bill Morrison/Bryan Shanahan booth at the dome end of the parking lot and get some great chili!

Here are the results of today's 54th annual AZ State Chili Championship! Here are our winners! Details in the photos b...
08/03/2026

Here are the results of today's 54th annual AZ State Chili Championship! Here are our winners! Details in the photos below.

People's Choice (How you voted!): Paul Whitney, Booth 101

Best Booth / Showmanship: American Legion, Booth

Best Restaurant: 1899 makes it 2 years in a row!

Results from the International Chili Society sanctioned cookoff, with the winners moving on to the International Chili Society World Championships in January:

ICS Homestyle:

Susan Rast, 3rd Place
Paul Whitney, 2nd Place
Donna Foley, 1st Place advances to the World Championship!

ICS Chili Verde:

Michael Lucariello, 3rd Place
Don Cullum, 2nd Place
Larry Eastep, 1st Place advances to the World Championship!

ICS Red Chili:

Dora Jepson, 3rd Place
Kevin Foley, 2nd Place
Don Cullum, 1st Place advances to the World Championship!

Thank you to our committee, organizer Paul Whitney, Head Scorekeeper Joe Galli, our volunteers, our wonderful cooks that competed and all of you that came out to a gorgeous Flagstaff day to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff! We appreciate you all and will see you in 2027!

08/02/2026

On Sunday, August 2, the Flagstaff Chili Festival presented by Findlay Toyota will include our 4th Annual Best Restaurant Chili in Flagstaff Competition and you, the public, will once again choose the winner. Back this year is our defending Champion, 1899 Bar & Grill, along with 2 time winners Beaver Street Brewery, The Lumberyard Brewing Company, Salsa Brava, Texas Roadhouse and new in this year, Outback Steakhouse. All will be serving their chili to the crowd from 10 am until 2:30 pm. Come on down, help us support Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Flagstaff when you purchase your tasting kits for $10.00 and vote for the Best Restaurant Chili in Flagstaff!

Here are the results of today's Route 66 Chili Cookoff! Here are our winners! Details in the photos below.People's Cho...
08/02/2026

Here are the results of today's Route 66 Chili Cookoff! Here are our winners! Details in the photos below.

People's Choice (How you voted!): Nick Escalante, Booth 102
Best Booth / Showmanship: Nick Escalante, Booth 102

First Responders: Flagstaff Fire Department, Field Unit

Results from the International Chili Society sanctioned cookoff, with the winners moving on to the World Championships in January:

ICS Vegetarian: Larry Eastep! Booth 117

ICS Chili Verde: Don Cullum, Booth 120

ICS Red Chili: John Jepsom, Booth 123

We thank all of our contestants, first responders, judges, volunteers and YOU for coming to a great fundraiser benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff ! We have one more cookoff to go! The Arizona State Chili Championship is tomorrow, Sunday, August 2nd! Starting at 10AM at Thorpe Park!

07/31/2026

Safe travels to all the cooks headed by road or by air(or both!)to Flagstaff, Arizona for the 2026 Flagstaff Chili Festival presented by Findlay Toyota. Saturday will be the 42nd Annual Route 66 Regional Chili Cook-off and Sunday will be the 54th Annual Arizona State Championship Chili Cook-off. All 3 winners each day will be advancing to the 2027 WCCC to be held in Scottsdale, AZ in January. So come on down to Thorpe Park, buy a tasting kit, support BBBS of Flagstaff and enjoy some amazing chili! See you there!

Are you ready for some CHILI? This weekend! Take a look at our page for both events! We are at Thorpe Park, 11AM on S...
07/31/2026

Are you ready for some CHILI? This weekend! Take a look at our page for both events! We are at Thorpe Park, 11AM on Saturday, 10AM on Sunday. We have 6 past World Champions coming again this year! Don't miss it and come early. Because once the chili is gone, it's gone.

07/30/2026

The Flagstaff Chili Society warmly welcomes Foothills Bank as a Green Chili Level sponsor for the upcoming Flagstaff Chili Festival presented by Findlay Toyota. this weekend at Thorpe Park. Tasting kits are $10.00 and the proceeds benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Flagstaff. Weather looks to be toasty with only a slight chance of monsoon rains. We look forward to seeing you out there as we crown a bunch of new champions in 2026!

07/28/2026

🍽️ Spice, spice baby! 🍽️

The Flagstaff Chili Festival is back for two flavorful days of friendly competition, live music, local vendors, cold drinks, and, of course, incredible chili!

Taste your way through award-winning red chili, chili verde, vegetarian, and homestyle recipes, cast your vote for the People's Choice Award, and cheer on competitors from across the region as they battle for chili bragging rights.

🎟️ Free admission
🥄 Tasting Kits: $10
📍 Thorpe Park
📅 August 1–2

Best of all, proceeds from the festival benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff, making every bite even more meaningful.

Ready to level up your festival weekend? Enter the 2026 Flagstaff Festival Sweepstakes for a chance to win big in Flagstaff! 👉 https://woobox.com/jzbn3t

07/19/2026

Saturday, August 1, 2026 at Thorpe Park as part of the 2026 Flagstaff Chili Festival presented by Findlay Toyota, the 3rd Annual First Responders Chili Challenge will take place and you, the attending crowd, will get to pick this years winner! Teams representing the Northern Arizona University Police Department, The Flagstaff Fire Department Administration and the Flagstaff Fire Department Field Units will be out there. And joining us this year for the first time will be the EMT's of Guardian Medical Transport. Join us for the weekend, the event is a fundraiser for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Flagstaff. Tasting Kits are $10.00 each. Hope to see you there!

Address

51 N. Thorpe Road
Flagstaff, AZ
86001

Telephone

+19288531161

Website

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