‘Chomp and Stomp’ celebrates the historical past of Cabbagetown via music, meals – the Southerner On-line

“(Chomp and Stomp) is a chili and bluegrass competition with measurement artists market that we throw to boost cash for the parks of Cabbagetown and the encompassing areas,” Chomp and Stomp competition Chair Lauren Appel mentioned. “Each first Saturday of November we throw an enormous competition with about 80 particular person chili (distributors) and about 20 chili restaurant (distributors). Now we have 114 artists markets, and music all all through the day.”

Throughout this one-day competition, Cabbagetown closes its streets to have a good time as a neighborhood.

“It goes all through all the neighborhood,” Appel mentioned. “Our particular person chilies are all down Wiley Road. Our eating places are on Estoria (Road). Our artists’ markets are all of the streets sort of in between and out to Gaskill (Road). After which we’ve received one other stage in a child’s space and Esther Peachy Park. And we’ve additionally received lots of native companies that we’re attempting to associate up with and guarantee that they’re having day too.”

Chomp and Stomp was began by the residents of Cabbagetown in 2003 as a fundraiser for the maintenance and constructing of neighborhood parks, corresponding to Cabbagetown Park.

“We entered into an settlement with town a few years in the past, (to) tackle a number of the monetary burdens to handle parks,” Appel mentioned. “So to be able to do this, we have to increase cash.”

Now, the competition serves a number of functions past elevating funds for park upkeep. Chomp and Stomp raises funds for different Cabbagetown occasions and communicates what the neighborhood represents.

“(With out the competition) we wouldn’t be capable to do our group backyard or run our Ahead Warrior mural venture on Wiley Road, or our live performance collection,” Pageant music director John Dirga mentioned. “Any of the issues that we do this’s open air and free actually is determined by Chomp and Stomp. But it surely’s additionally how we talk our vibe and values to town. So it sort of exhibits off who we’re and the way we roll.”

Cabbagetown is wealthy in historical past and was initially constructed for the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill staff. Chomp and Stomp was additionally created to honor Cabbagetown’s roots as a cotton mill city.

“It began 20 years in the past as type of a celebration of the city’s historical past with recalling a number of the mountain traditions of residence cooking and sharing recipes and porch selecting and string music,” Dirga mentioned. “And so it’s all the time been sort of chili and bluegrass and we sort of gravitate in direction of that sort of anachronistic, rural Americana (really feel).”

Whereas some musicians come from out of city, most performers are native Atlantans. The various native  musicians permits the competition to replicate Cabbagetown’s previous as a musically vibrant neighborhood.

“Cabbagetown has a storied previous as being a spot the place numerous musicians lived, type of a proud custom of being residence for bands and songwriters,” Dirga mentioned. “So, there are principally native bands however we’ve two which might be coming right here from Nashville. And we’ve one performer that’s coming from Austin, Texas.”

For the reason that early years of the competition, Dirga has labored on the music portion, discovering musicians for Chomp and Stomp.

“We began with one little tiny stage below a tent in the course of the park and now there’s 5 phases,” Dirga mentioned. “So we attempt to do bluegrass or old-timey adjoining music within the park. However we even have rock and roll and punk on the 97 Estoria Stage and we’ve some blues and another honky tonk sort of stuff on our different phases; (the music) spreads all through all the neighborhood.”

The principle a part of the competition are the chili stands alongside Wylie Road and Estoria Road. There, eating places and particular person chili groups gown up in costumes and serve their chili to attendees. Every vendor’s chili can also be entered into numerous competitions the place winners can earn money prizes and plaques.

“All of us received collectively on Thursday and chopped onions, tomatoes, floor beef, and it was actually enjoyable,” member of the sales space ‘It’s Chili O’clock Someplace’, Lauren Cusimano mentioned. “(The competition has) been so enjoyable and everybody’s been so pleasant. And we love simply strolling up and down and seeing all of the totally different stands and themes and costumes. It’s been great.”

Chomp and Stomp is a novel Atlanta competition due to its constant ties to the historical past of the neighborhood and the keenness from the group, Appel mentioned.

“Since we’re in a historic neighborhood and the competition is tied to that sort of historical past, it makes us somewhat bit distinctive,” Appel mentioned. “Simply the mixture of the deal with chili and bluegrass, I believe units us aside somewhat bit.”

The competition not solely celebrates the historical past of Cabbagetown, but additionally the tip of summer time.

“What I actually love about Chomp and Stomp is it coincides with sort of the tip of competition season,” Dirga mentioned. “The climate is altering, and the leaves are turning and all people will get an opportunity to placed on their cute scarf and their enjoyable winter mittens, and it simply appears like the start of fall. It sort of places a cap on the tip of summer time, and it’s a transition to winter.”