National Buffalo Wing Festival
| National Buffalo Wing Festival | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Date(s) | Labor Day weekend, 2–3 September 2017 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Coca-Cola Field |
| Years active | 14 |
| Inaugurated | 2002 |
| Attendance | 80,000/yr |
| Organized by | Drew Cerza |
| Website | |
|
buffalowing | |
National Buffalo Wing Festival or wing fest is a weekend festival held at Coca-Cola Field in downtown Buffalo, New York, United States, celebrating the Buffalo style chicken wing. The festival is held on Labor Day weekend and culminates with the IFOCE sanctioned Buffalo Wing eating contest.
Event history
This festival was inaugurated in 2002. Founder Drew Cerza, called the "Wing King" by Buffalo News, was said to have modeled the event on a fictitious festival from the movie Osmosis Jones.[1] Though it has been claimed that this is the first festival of its kind, WingStock on Main Street in Downtown Buffalo was held annually prior to the first National Buffalo Wing Festival.The first Wingstock was in 1997 and won by Ray Jay's Bar on Broadway in Cheektowaga and was held at the Radisson Hotel on Genesee street. Drew Cerza paved the way for the Chicken Wing Hall of Fame and made Buffalo the birthplace of the chicken wings.
Jill Greenburg said, "Of local festivals that have come and gone the Wing Fest’s staying power is a result of raising approximately $200,000 for local charities and serving almost 3 million chicken wings with 100 sauce varieties to over half a million hungry visitors over the years." In 2010, the festival was video webcast live to over 84,000 online viewers.[2]
On September 2, 2012 Joey Chestnut consumed 191 wings, 7.61 pounds (3.45 kg), in 12 minutes to take competitive-eating trophy from the five-year champion Sonya Thomas.[3] Chestnut broke his own record in 2014 by eating 192 on 31 August, and successfully defended his title the next year by eating 205 wings on 6 September, another record.
Event contests
Contests at the National Buffalo Wing Festival include:[4]
- US Chicken Wing Eating Championship
- Amateur Chicken Wing Eating
- Amateur Traditional Sauce Contest
- Amateur Creative Sauce Contest
- Ridiculously Hot Wing Eating Contest
- Miss Buffalo Wing
- Bobbing for Wings
- Baby Wing
- Buffalo Buffet Bowl
- Yancey's Fancy Cheesiest Couple Contest
- Yancey's Fancy Cheesy Dance-Off Contest
- Battle of the Border
- College Wing Eating Competition
- 2nd Chicken Wing 5K (3.107 mi.) Run.
Facts
- 2010 Attendance: 71,000[5]
- 2011 Attendance: 85,000[6]
- 1 wedding has occurred at the festival [7]
- Prize Money Breakdown:[8]
- 1st Place: $1,500
- 2nd Place: $750
- 3rd Place: $300
US chicken wing eating championship competition winners
Contest duration is 12 minutes.
| Date | Name | Chicken wings eaten | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 9/2/2002 | N/A | N/A | Inaugural |
| II | 9/1/2003 |  Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas |
134 | |
| III | 9/1/2004 | 161 | Event record | |
| IV | 9/3/2005 | Eric "Badlands" Booker |
137 | |
| V | 9/2/2006 | Chip Simpson |
158 | |
| VI | 9/1/2007 | Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas |
173 | Event record |
| VII | 8/30/2008 | 165 | ||
| VIII | 9/6/2009 | 169 | ||
| IX | 9/5/2010 | 181 | Event record[9] | |
| X | 9/4/2011 | 183 | Event record | |
| XI | 9/2/2012 | Joey "Jaws" Chestnut |
191 | Event record[10] |
| XII | 9/1/2013 | Miki Sudo |
178 | |
| XIII | 8/31/2014 | Joey "Jaws" Chestnut |
192 | Event record |
| XIV | 9/6/2015 | 205 | ||
| XV | 9/4/2016 | TBD |
Entertainment
Every year the festival brings in top quality entertainers. There are always new and exciting entertainers each year. Several entertainers also appear year after year including Quiz Master Dennis George, Elvis Tribute Artist Terry Evans and Balloon Entertainers Dennis & Karen Regling.
References
- ↑ Klinck, Patrick (September 1, 2012). "Buffalo Wing Festival Starts Second Decade in a Big Way". WGRZ.com. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- ↑ http://blogs.artvoice.com/stillbuffalo/2011/09/08/national-buffalo-wing-festival/
- ↑ Baldwin, Richard (2012-09-05). "He ate 191 wings, but who's counting?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
- ↑ "Contest Information". National Buffalo Wing Festival. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ↑ "2010 Wing Fest Draws From All 50 States and 36 Countries!". http://www.buffalowing.com. Retrieved September 6, 2012. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ Gallman, Stephanie (September 5, 2011). "Chicken wing festival is a fowl success -- 85,000 flock to Buffalo". CNN. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.buffalowing.com/c-20-festival-history.aspx
- ↑ "U.S. Buffalo Wing Eating Championship". IFOCE. 2008-08-30. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- ↑ "2010 National Buffalo Wing Festival - Black Widow Wins". www.allvoices.com. 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
- ↑ "Chestnut eats record 191 wings in 12 minutes". timesheraldonline. 2012-09-02. Retrieved 2012-09-02.