By MATT PIKE
The inaugural Wild West Sloppy Joe Fest is finally here, happening this Friday in downtown St. Joseph.
Christy George with Main Street St. Joseph says the sloppy joe cook off is not only a first-time event, but the first of its kind, based around Main Streets goal of connecting with where you're from.
"We were trying to think of what's a good item that could go with Joe, or some kind of festival, and we were having sloppy joes that night and it just hit me," George says on the KFEQmunnity show. "I had never realized St. Joseph, sloppy joe, then we started thinking about the chili cookoff and the bowls soup fundraiser, and we thought yeah let's try this."
The event on Friday will feature several events throughout downtown with a cookoff from 4 to 8pm. But Evan Banks, Vice President of Main Street, says there are other events as well during the festivities.
"We'll have bands playing and there's going to be wild west entertainment, some actors that are going to be roaming around, balloon animals, there will be a whip cracking extraordinaire," Banks explains.
"And a complimentary hayride that will connect the downtown businesses that are staying open late with the festival and its free," George adds.
12 participants will cook different sloppy joe recipes and tasting tickets are still available to purchase for $10 each. George says they are also still looking for people to enter into the sloppy joe eating contest
"We have an adult version and a kids version, 15 is the cutoff between adult and kids," George says. "If you know someone who can eat a lot of sloppy joes or you think you can, just check us out on our Facebook page Main Street St. Joe or the Chamber's or the downtown website."
It is free to enter the eating contest for those interested. For those that aren't able to purchase a tasting ticket, sloppy joes will also be for sale by the people cooking them.
And Banks says people who come to the cookoff might experience some unique sloppy joe recipes.
"There's going to be some interesting joes out there, they won't all be beef, I know that some will be a little different," Banks says. "But there are going to be some interesting recipes, not your average sloppy joe."
The Wild West Sloppy Joe Fest runs from 4 to 8pm on Felix Street between 6th and 7th streets. The sloppy joe's will be available in The United building, while other entertainment will be outside.
Interview
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