Winchester Cheese & Chilli Festival

A festival is not a festival without some live music! To keep us entertained, we have a number of bands playing for us throughout the weekend. The bands will be celebrated musicians from around the region playing anything from from jazz to rock. See the schedule for further information.

A number of cooking demonstrations or talks will be offered by professionals from the cheese and chilli industry. Many sessions will be hosted by the famous Chilli Olly but we will also have many guest speakers. See the schedule for further details. The Demonstration Theatre will also host the popular Hot Food Challenge, Ready Steady Cook interactive cooking session plus many more.

The Box That Rox is a karaoke video booth that provides fantastic entertainment. Anyone can have a go, it’s FREE!

Have a go at Circus Skills; including juggling, diabolo, poi, plate spinning, flower sticks, staff spinning, hula hooping, stilt walking, unicycles and rola bola – we even have a freestanding slackline for the more adventurous to try!

“Tomorrow is Another Story”

Enter the world of Mark Fraser – The storyteller.  You will find pirates, dragons, wizards, giants, fairies and a strange Goblin ice cream expert. Original tales, traditional stories and shaggy dogs can all be found at the story tent.  The international storyteller will bring laughs, frights, wonder and a not so bad wolf to The Cheese & Chilli Festival.  Come and be part of a story.

The Chilli Eating Competition takes place each day at around 4pm.  It’s quite a sight to see grown adults struggle to eat tiny fruits and hilarious to see the consequences! The winner of the competition is the person who can stay in the game the longest! If you are mad enough for the challenge, please contact us.

Another FREE activity, why not test yourself against our very own Cheese & Chilli Crazy Golf Course.  Par 27!  Large and small putters available plus multicoloured balls so no cheating.

At each event we have a tailored selection of sauces from various traders around the site and we ask you to judge which ones you prefer.  When entering the event, you are given a ballot slip to be used in this area.  Your vote counts!

We have number of FREE activities available for the kids.  We have Punch & Judy, Magic Shows, Treasure Hunts, Balloon Modelling, Crazy Golf, Football and Circus Skills available.  There are paid for activities also such as mini fun fair rides, face painting, inflatables etc.  We are very sad to say that our resident Pirate Magician Alf Mackay sadly passed away at the end of last season and we would like to dedicate all our shows this year to him.  He is sadly missed and as a token to him, any child coming to the event dressed as a pirate will receive a sweet gift.

The Hot Food Challenge is a crazy 30 minutes of watching people try and devour a HOT meal prepared lovingly by our resident chef Chilli Olly.  The winner is the person who can finish their first! If you are mad enough for the challenge, please contact us.

An array of lovely cheese & chilli available for you to sample and purchase. We are very lucky to be supported by some of the uk’s leading growers, makers and manufacturers of cheese and chilli related products. It’s a chance to come and try something new and learn something about these fantastic products.

If the activities on offer aren’t your thing, you can just come and have a good time with your friends or family.  Let the good times roll!

’Thinking of performing an Extreme Heat Challenge?  Come and meet Chilli Sid in our Demonstration Tent.  Chilli Sid is famous for completing a number of Extreme Heat Challenges.  These sessions are designed to give you an insight into the world of extreme chilli challenges.  Extreme heat challenges are becoming more popular and if you are interested in having a go one day, you need to understand the dangers involved.  Chilli Olly and Chilli Sid will walk and talk you through the process. Chilli Sid will be performing a number of Heat Challenges throughout this amazing Q&A answering any questions you have including how it feels to eat 40 Carolina Reapers in one sitting!’