Looking back on a successful 2023 Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce Chillifest, some official chili numbers have been calculated, notes for improvements next year have been made and a vast number of volunteers and community members are left to thank.

Saturday of Chillifest had J.I. McDowell, Owner of Angelo’s in Taylorville, and his crew were working hard as a new record of chili was made and sold for day one, 12 batches of chili were made on Saturday, at 22 gallons of chili per batch, that made for about 4,500 bowls of chili served. 950 pounds of ground meat was used during Chillifest weekend and McDowell called Ron’s Produce a game changer as all food items stayed fresh for the two-day event in Ron’s refrigerated truck.

Linda Allen, Executive Director of the Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce was pleased with the layout of Chillifest this year as the flow of people was not interrupted and the chili tent was able to keep pushing out the Chili.

J.I. McDowell is a veteran at Chillifest and had assembled his workers who have had experience with high-volume crowds and a fast-paced environment.

With close to 140 vendors, Allen was extremely happy to see the participation from the community and the businesses that made the day special. Allen reminds us that the 40th Chillifest is coming in 2025.

Information about Chillifest can be found on the Facebook page titled, Taylorville Chillifest.

Linda Allen and J.I. McDowell appeared as guests on the WTIM Morning Show.