Tomorrow Cabbagetown will host what is inarguably the city’s best festival of the year – that’s right kids, it’s Chomp and Stomp time! As the website says, what’s better than chili on a sunny November afternoon? Oh – chili and beer and music in the coolest, most welcoming neighborhood in the city, that’s what.

Things will get kicked off in the morning with a 5k (my participation in this will be sitting on my porch drinking coffee and blasting music for the runners), then chili starts being served exactly at noon. You’ve got about an hour to taste the individual entrants’ chili, a few more for the restaurants. Spoons are $5.

This year it’s bigger than ever before, which means more celebration, more chili, more vendors and volunteers and revelers, and more street closings. So if you’re headed our way, I’d say don’t bother driving. They’ll be running free fur buses between the MLK Marta station and the festival, and Atlanta Bicycle Coalition will have a bike valet. You might be able to park in Inman Park, but honestly, after all that chili you might want to go for a little walk or bike ride anyway.

Every year it's the most gorgeous fall day. Thanks to jramspott on flickr for the photo.

One more change this year: thanks to Milltown Arms, we are finally able to stop using the Styrofoam chili cups and plastic spoons! They provided compostable alternatives, which is huge, but the organizers are asking for help because no one ever puts things in the correct bin. So I’m helping spread the word – CHILI SPOONS AND CHILI CUPS GO IN RED BINS. Red. Bins. Thanks.

Here’s a map with all the details, or you can check out the Chomp and Stomp website.

I will be pouring Sweetwaters in Esther Peachy Park (the little one at Powell and Wylie) at 3:00, so swing by and say hello!

Dogwood Festival

This weather (seriously?  The snow flurries this morning?) is making me yearn for the days coming up when I constantly complain about being too hot, I pick my shirts based on what color shows the least sweat, strawberries cost $11 a flat at the market, and I have reverse-raccoon eyes from wearing sunglasses outside all the time.

It also makes me think about the ridiculous number of festivals this city holds when the sun comes out. Where else do you get to stand around clutching rapidly warming $6 beers, bitch about the crowds, develop a mild sunburn and check out garish technicolor dog art? You can also usually find fair food, which includes funnel cakes and various foods on sticks. Generally, my favorites are beer festivals within biking distance of my home (CL’s Beerfest in Woodruff, EAV’s Beerfest in, well, EAV); my least favorites are the neighborhood festivals in neighborhoods where I don’t live (why do I always end up at Summerfest in the Highlands?); and the clear standout winner isn’t even in the spring or summer, it’s Cabbagetown’s Chomp and Stomp in November (I’m acknowledging a slight bias here, but seriously, it rocks).

Coming up this weekend: BaconFest!  This one’s new to me, but Dad’s Garage is a cause I can get behind, especially with two things I also wholeheartedly support (beer and bacon).

You’ll probably also find me at 420Fest in Candler Park April 17-18.  Any readers going to Dogwood that weekend, as it’s now back in Piedmont Park?  What festivals do you look forward to every year?  Is there one that we shouldn’t miss? Why not? Can you promise me some technicolor dog art?