New: History of the Chili Queens from San Antonio Light - September 12, 1937 Click Here

1. True chili is defined by the International Chili Society as any kind of meat, or combination of meats, cooked with chili peppers, various other spices and other ingredients. For our purposes, meatless chili qualifies.
2. No ingredient may be pre-cooked or treated in any way prior to the start of the official cook off. The only exceptions are canned or bottled tomatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, pepper sauce, beverages, broth and grinding and/or mixing of spices. Meat and vegetables may be pre-cut or ground but not treated in any other way.
3. The cooking period will be a maximum of four (4) hours. The exact starting and ending of the cooking period will be announced by the organizers. Cooking during the entire cooking period is at the sole discretion of the contestant/team.
4. A representative from each team shall attend the contestant’s meeting to be held approximately fifteen (15) minutes prior to the start of the cook off for final instructions.
5. Each team must have a cook and no more than three (3) assistants. No other persons except officials from the Nova Scotia Department of the Environment or the organizing committee shall be allowed in the team’s cooking area. All team members must be identified prior to start of preparation period. Any assistance from other than a team member between the end of the contestant’s meeting and the official end of the cooking period will subject the contestant team to disqualification at the sole discretion of the organizing committee.
6. Contestant teams are responsible for supplying all of their own cooking utensils, ingredients and heat source. The organizing committee will provide each team with a table area for preparation and access to a meat thermometer. Contestant teams are permitted to set up their equipment, decorations and other facilities anytime after 9:00am on the day of the cook off. There is a prize for the best decorated table and team.
7. Each contestant team must cook a minimum of four (4) quarts of chili and following the cooking period, provide a sample container of chili to any person presenting a ticket and container that will be provided by the organizing committee. All proceeds from the sale of tickets will be used to support waterfront events. Two containers of chili must be provided in container to be supplied by the organizing Committee for purposes of judging.
8. Each contestant team will be assigned a contestant’s number by the organizing committee. Each contestant team should verify that the number on the bottom of their container is the same as their contestant’s number. The number on the container will be covered with nontransparent tape at the time of collection.
9. All recipes, including all ingredients, techniques and methodology used during the competition, shall become the property of the organizing committee and the sponsors and become public domain, outside the realm of copyright.
10. Any special requirements are to be conveyed to the organizing committee no later than two (2) days prior to the cook off. The organizing committee will attempt to meet any special requirements but are not obliged to do so.