Discover Lansdale has announced that their annual Chili Cookoff, which was set to be a feature of the September First Friday festivities, has been cancelled due to safety concerns stemming from the rising COVID-19 cases across the area.
“Our committee met last week to finalize the details for Friday’s event, at which time we decided — out of an abundance of caution — to cancel the chili cookoff portion of the event,” said Keith Heffintrayer, Chairman of Discover Lansdale’s First Friday Committee. “We’re not at a point where we need to be cancelling events, and our September lineup has plenty of other features to draw people out, but with the shared utensils and having hundreds of people eating from the same source, we no longer thought we could do so in a safe manner given the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the area.”
The Chili Cookoff, which was last held in October 2019, has been a staple of the fall First Friday lineup for years, however organizers elected to move it to September this season to pair it with September’s football-themed Tailgate Party First Friday. Heffintrayer said he expects the event to return next year, provided the pandemic doesn’t continue to interfere with the committee’s planning.
While the pandemic may have claimed another casualty, September First Friday will otherwise go on as planned. With the football theme, attendees are being asked to don their favorite Midnight Green or Kelly Green jerseys for an evening of football themed activities, food, drinks and more.
“We have some fun activities in the works for September,” said Heffintrayer. “We should be making an announcement with all of the details later this week.”
(Editor’s note: North Penn Now editor Keith Heffintrayer also serves as the First Friday Committee Chairman for Discover Lansdale.)
See also:
Lansdale's Founders Day Is Back With A Bang Saturday
Discover Lansdale Seeking Entries for September First Friday Chili Cookoff
Photos: August First Friday in Lansdale
Photos: Thousands Turn Out for Return of Lansdale First Fridays
Lansdale Borough Council OKs Return of Founders Day Aug. 28
