SoNo Fest & Chili Cook-off ~ North Park, San Diego, CA

On Sunday, December 1st I participated in the 4th annual SoNo Fest and Chili Cook-off presented by the McKinley Elementary PTC and the San Diego Ceramic Connection (SDCC).  It was located in North Park, which just happens to be one of the hippest neighborhoods in San Diego. It was a GREAT fun filled day of music, local craft beer & wine, artwork, and of course CHILI! To top it off, many of the proceeds from the event will benefit the schools Spanish, art and music programs. How cool! These types of programs played an integral role in shaping who I am today, so being able to contribute to this community initiative means a lot to me. 

 

MAKE ART THAT CHANGES YOUR LIFE

 

Basically, for $20 you buy a beautifully hand-crafted ceramic chili bowl from the SDCC and $10 of that purchase will go directly to the elementary school.  You then enjoy homemade chili from some of San Diego’s finest restaurants and/or community entries.  Once you've had your fill, you vote on your favorites.

My assistant/boyfriend and I (he works for hugs and kisses hehe) set up my booth in record time so I had a chance to walk around and check everything out before the crowd arrived...and boy did it get crowded quick! Come early if you want to have a lot of bowl choices and chili for that matter, many vendors were scraping the bottom of their pots around 1:00pm.

 

Beer & wine garden...ready, set, drink! This picture was taken more out of longing...I'm a big fan of San Diego craft beer! Oh, another day....

 

 

Everyone was so nice, I even met a few fellow artisans who were gracious enough to let a complete stranger take their picture :D

 

 

I would recommend anyone living in or around San Diego to check out this lovely festival next year. It was a wonderful experience and knowing kids are going to benefit from all the full bellies of chili made it even better! A win-win experience for all :)

 

For more info about SoNo Fest visit: http://sonofestchilicookoff.wordpress.com/