Restaurants gear up for third annual Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival

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      The third annual Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival will take place August 30 and 31 on the 200 block of Carrall Street between Water and Cordova streets. This year, the two-day event includes new vendors, an expanded licensed area, and more live musical performances.

      Twelve Gastown restaurants will compete in barbecue and chili competitions, including the Blarney Stone, Gringo, The Hastings Warehouse, Deacon’s Corner, Tuc Craft Kitchen, The Charles Bar, Incendio, Irish Heather, Chill Winston, Lamplighter, Railtown Cafe, and Calabash Bistro.

      While the majority of food offerings are meat—such as barbecued ribs, chicken wings, pulled pork, and braised beef—at least one restaurant is expected to offer a vegetarian chili. Samples of barbecue and chili will be sold to the public, with proceeds benefiting Athletics for Kids—a non-profit that provides funding for children from low-income families in B.C. to participate in sports.

      The festival will also feature a chicken wing-eating contest, pig roast, street performers, beer stand, and restaurant patios extending onto the street, which will be closed to traffic at that time.

      The all-ages festival is free to attend. Tickets for barbecue and chili sampling will be available for purchase at the event.

      You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

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