The hottest event in town – Birmingham Chilli Festival – will be arriving in Brindleyplace this Friday (19 July), ready to challenge Birmingham’s taste buds.

The annual festival is now in its third year and will take place for two days in Central Square at Brindleyplace, between 11am and 7pm on Friday and 11am and 6pm on Saturday.

Sponsored by Aston Manor Cider and organised with the support of market operator, Sketts, local producer Holly & The Ivy and chilli specialists, Fire Foods, the spicy food festival will showcase a variety of local produce, crafts and chilli-inspired gifts.

The free family event will also be entertaining people with live music, cookery demonstrations from Brindleyplace restaurants and a variety of street entertainment including salsa and limbo performances – not to mention the ever popular and highly competitive chilli eating competition!

Now fully subscribed, the chilli eating competition will see 15 people compete against each other to see who can stomach the hottest chilli and be crowned Chilli Conqueror 2013. Participants in this year’s challenge include international student, Khoa Nguyen, chilli fanatic Danny Barnes from Moseley and local journalist, Tom Pell.

The man vs. chilli contest will take place at 3:30pm on Saturday 20 July and will include Naga, Scotch Bonnet, Thai Red and Poblano chillies. The winner will receive complementary drinks at Pitcher and Piano, a meal at Piccolino and an overnight stay for two at Hilton Garden Inn.

Ailsa Raine, marketing executive at Brindleyplace said: “Things will be getting even hotter at Brindleyplace this weekend as we welcome back the highly-anticipated Birmingham Chilli Festival. Each year the festival gets more and more popular as the demand for chilli recipes and chilli-inspired ingredients continues to grow.

“The highlight of the festival is always the chilli eating competition. Our brave competitors will be taking on some of the spiciest flavours, including the fiery Naga chilli, and as ever, there are sure to be some red faces on show by the end of it!

“Birmingham has an unbeatable reputation for its selection of high-quality food offerings, and at Brindleyplace, we are proud to be supporting local producers and restaurants during the Chilli Festival, so I would encourage everyone to come along and support the event this weekend.”

Aston Manor will be on hand to cool people down with samples of its refreshing cider throughout the course of the festival and will be hosting a Kingstone Press bar area where chilli eaters can cool off.

For more information visit www.brindleyplace.com