"Fire and ice? What is that? A circus?" I said.
"No," my friend said. "They have ice sculptures and a chili cook-off."
Ice carving sounded kind of cultural and cool-ish. But chili cook-off sounded more like my old Texas thing. I mean, chili in Vancouver Island? I had to see it; I had to try it!
So, I huddled my family into the mini-van on a rainy day and drove up to Qualicum Beach.
For a mere $3, you could buy a chili cup and then go from stand to stand trying all sorts of chili.
One had to keep track of the number of the stands to vote for the best.
I guess my years of Tex-Mex food prepared me well for this event, because my taste buds didn't burn and my stomach didn't complain afterwards.
My favorites were those that gave you chips and other goodies, not just the brownish soup. One came with cheese, sour cream, and chips. Very nice, eh?
Oh, yeah, and the ice sculptures. Look at this guy, who turned this...
Into this...
Okay, so here's the real shock. Remember the horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? I saw the old one as a kid and never forgot about it. Nasty thing. Now, there are these guys with chainsaws at the festival, using them as chisels!
I've always been proud of the ice cubes I can make, but these carvers are at another level. Check these out:
Very cold, I mean, cool. But what is a street festival without some senior tap dancing? We enjoyed this and I bet you will too...
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