A huge thank you to The Vermont Mac & Cheese Challenge and Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co for inviting me and providing me with complimentary entry! 

I Just got back from the 2016 Vermont Mac & Cheese Challenge sponsored by Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co and Castleton Crackers. It was located at Artisan’s Park in Windsor. VT which is where Harpoon Brewery is located. All of the proceeds go to the Vermont Food Bank and tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of. I was provided with three complimentary tickets to attend this event.

I arrived at around 10:50 because the event starts at 11 and it was already packed. Parking was simple and finding where to go was simple as well, as you wait in line you can purchase wristbands and they also have a designated area for people who have prepaid.

The restaurants that attended included Five Corners Pub & Brewhouse, 56 Main Street Restaurant, Big Fatty’s BBQ – Hartford, Blood’s Catering & Party Rentals, Castle Hill Resort And Spa, Hanover Co-op, Kedron Valley Inn, The Killarney, Kingdom Taproom, Murphy’s OnThe Green, Our House Bistro, The Pavilion Cafe, The Pine Restaurant At the Hanover Inn, Poor Thom’s Tavern, Preston’s at Killington Grand, Public House, Woodstock Inn & Resort, Salt hill Pub, The Skinny Pancake – Hanover, South Woodstock Country St. VT. Woodridge Nursing Home And Rehabilitation, And Vermont Maple Sriracha.

King Arthur Flour was also there giving out free samples of cookies from their new baking line.

They also had a petting zoo with a few cows!

Here are some pictures of the different mac and cheeses I tried.

Overall I had a lot of fun, my only complaints are the website says no dogs while the facebook event page says no dogs inside the tents and I saw tons of people with their dogs inside of the food tents. There was also not much direction on where to go once you got into the tent, I think the idea of ropes would be a great idea because it was super chaotic, some attendees got really when they thought people were “cutting” but there really was not much direction or organization when it came to the lines inside of the tents. All of the staff and competitors were really polite and overall I had a lot of fun.

Many people on the event page are complaining about the tickets running out since the event caps at 3000, to prevent this I highly suggest purchasing tickets in advance.

Overall I think this is an amazing festival that showcases some of the amazing restaurants in the area and I will definitely be attending again.

Winners:

Judges Choice 1st Place – Kedron Valley Inn
2nd Place – Big Fatty’s BBQ – Hartford
3rd Place – Our House Bistro

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