The 41st annual Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off scheduled for Saturday, June 27 will likely be postponed until 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, but the final decision has yet to be made, announced event sponsors Ocean Beach MainStreet Association.
“Our board didn’t take any action today (April 23),” said Denny Knox, OBMA’s executive director. “We’re waiting for the City to notify us we have to cancel.”
Knox noted the summertime classic street fair is “one of our special events that make up 80% of our budget that finances all the extra community work we do, all the murals, all the banners. OBMA has laid off four of our employees and we’ve cut our payroll by up to 40%.”
Asked what alternatives might be considered to fill the revenue gap, Knox replied: “We haven’t even had a promotions meeting on that, which will happen the first of May. We’re going to be looking at ideas on just how to sustain the organization since we’re not having any special events. Everything we do, we’re just going to have to rethink how we’re going to manage it, just like every other business is going to have to do.”
Every year, the Street Fair features food booths, art, beachfront entertainment, shopping, and more. Entry to the Street Fair is always free. The chili competition features tastings from amateur entrants competing for the titles of Hottest Chili, Judges’ Award, and Grand Prize: People’s Choice Award.
Last year, by most accounts, the 40th annual OB Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off was a rousing success. “Phenomenal,” noted Denny Knox. “Artist Alley was teaming with people throughout the day and Artist Outpost offered lots of craft projects for children of all ages. Rock & Roll San Diego didn’t disappoint. They had musicians performing throughout the day in the center of the fair, offering music instruction at various times.”
Started in 1984, Ocean Beach had its first Chili Cook-Off Festival with Mike Akey, the current board of directors member of the OB MainStreet Association, as its founder. Back in the 1970s, Akey and his father, Angie Scaramuzzo, were chili enthusiasts and often traveled to chili cook-offs around the globe.
Akey thought about starting a cook-off in OB and made the decision to do so in 1984. For the first three years, the chili cook-offs were sanctioned by the International Chili Society, and the winner was eligible to go to the State Cook-Off, which could have potentially led to the National Cook-Off.
In the early days, bales of hay lined part of the 4900 block of Newport Avenue to provide seating for the Chili Cook-Off. Eventually, the OB Chili Cook-Off moved to the OB Pier parking lot, but the blacktop was just too hot. The move to Veterans Plaza on the grass really filled the bill and has been the site for the Cook-Off ever since, with over three times the number of contestants.
