Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp Chili Cook-Off and Bluegrass Festival gets tasty tomorrow

[Above: Festival-goers and vendors at 2007's Chomp and Stomp.]

Every year, two things that seem naturally predestined to live side-by-side join forces in Cabbagetown: Large vats of chili and healthy helpings of bluegrass music. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 festival-goers can relish the perfect pairing at the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp, which meshes a competitive chili cook-off with live bluegrass music for the sixth year running. In order to better understand this fortuitous mashup of culinary and aural euphoria (not to mention a morning 5k run), Paste got some more details from John Dirga, music coordinator for this year's Chomp, in a recent email exchange.

Paste: What prompted the idea to start the Chomp & Stomp?
Dirga: It started like some sort of crazy family picnic, but it has grown into a spectacular, city-sponsored event without losing its street-cred. We had an ugly, abandoned school in the middle of our neighborhood, and the community successfully organized to get it converted into a killer city park. Around the same time, we took control of a defunct preschool building adjacent to the property, and turned that into our community center. As you might imagine, it wasn't cheap, and we were trying to come up with ideas to raise some money. We got a grant from the Arthur Blank Foundation, and some other sources, but we needed a long-term plan. The obvious solution (in this, and any situation) was simple: throw a big party. 

As a sorta small fish in a big zip code, we didn't want to coincide with other unnamed (& lame) neighborhood festivals, so we opted for Fall. We figured we were tough enough to deal with chilly weather, and consciously decided to throw Atlanta's last great outdoor festival of the season. We're cool like that. The idea for a chili cook-off to keep us warm came from Nathan Bolster, one of our neighbors and ex-President of the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association. I think he came up with the name, too. It's quirky and anachronistic, and that's why we instantly knew the whole concept was pure Cabbagetown.

Paste: Why have bluegrass music?
Dirga: One can most easily point to Fiddlin' John Carson as an early Cabbagetown icon. As far as I know, and I'm seldom wrong about important stuff like song lyrics, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is about Johnny. In any case, the word "bluegrass" is easy for people to understand: it's gonna be kinda country, there will likely be a fiddle,  and either saints or sinners will figure prominently. It sells itself!

Cabbagetown has a long history of being a center for passionate, session-driven music. Cheap housing, front porches, and zero lot-lines tend do that to a neighborhood. Many of the early residents came from Appalachian mill villages, but there were plenty of city-folk that moved here for work at Fulton Bag Mill too. Carroll and Reinhardt streets represent the last vestiges of several blocks of worker housing, and you can almost imagine how that maze of square apartments must have been vibrant with the noise of three shifts a day.

I like musical surprises. I rock out to fast-paced riffs and scales. I dig harmonies. I'm down with wisdom, and give a concerned nod at the poor soul who has sinned. Honestly, I have other stuff on the iPod, but I've learned a lot about this scene while booking this thing. Music isn't the property of a time, place, or people, and that's why it lives forever and continues to evolve. Am I gushing? Good musicians having a good time with a good audience? It's fun for me to even imagine the possibility. 

Paste: What makes a great chili?
Dirga: Hm. Well, I'll tell you what doesn't make a great chili: Broken glass. It just doesn't have that perfect balance of spicy heat and textured beans. It's all sharp and cutty, very unlike well-seasoned meats and crunchy cornbread. Furthermore, lethal shards are not the kind of thing that you enjoy serving to a large group of guests on a cool afternoon. Broken glass definitely doesn't embody the spirit of communal dining, and there certainly wouldn't be any appropriate ingredient substitutions that could satisfy vegetarians. 

Paste: What's the best part of the festival?
Dirga: For me?  Sunset. Standing at the top of the hill near the amphitheater with a full belly of chili and a cold Sweetwater 420 in hand. An Autumn sunburn. Looking north and trying to compute the volume ratio of beer versus chili. Slowly smiling at my insanity, turning my head to check out some band that I booked just because their CD totally rocked my world, and recognizing a song. Wandering over after a hard day's fun and sitting down. Bliss.

Paste: What kinds of organizations get involved?
Dirga: Oh, I know this! Just the purely evil organizations. Mega-monopoly soul-crushing juggernauts. Secret societies. Predatory lenders. BMG Music Club. Blackwater. Dudes who sell non-existant time-shares. My step-father. You know, real low-life scoundrels. It's a neighborhood fundraiser. All proceeds go to the maintenance of Cabbagetown Park. We have lots of sponsors and vendors and volunteers and artists, and-- um-- organizations. Check out ChompAndStomp.com for more info. 

Paste: Why should people come?
Dirga: Because they aren't foolish? Listen, you don't get to see something like this very often. It's fun but slightly unnerving. It's organized and disorganized. I'm  exaggerating and full of lies, but it's the most fun you'll ever have. I promise. Don't worry about bringing lots of cash, there's an ATM for your convenience. Seriously, the Chomp is real to me. It's people I know. It's volunteers I wish I could thank. We don't hire an event coordinator, we slack on our jobs and fill out forms using our bosses' free internet connection. We skip lunch and madly discuss the logistics of port-o-lets. We yell at each other about spoons and then hug when we agree on ice tubs. It's one of the few neighborhood events that feels like a group of neighbors hand-painted all of the signs (which we did).

For a full lineup of musical acts and other festival information, visit ChompAndStomp.com.

Related links:
ChompAndStomp.com
Comp and Stomp on MySpace
Chomp and Stomp on CabbagetownInitiative.org