Bowers Chile Pepper Festival

When

September 11–12, 2026

Where

William DeLong Memorial Park, Bowers

Admission

$4 admission

The Chile Pepper Food Festival in tiny Bowers is one of Berks County's strangest and most beloved traditions: two days each September when a village of a few hundred people becomes Pennsylvania's capital of heat. The 2026 festival is the 30th annual. Vendors from across the region pack William DeLong Memorial Park with hot sauces, salsas, pepper-infused everything, and pepper plants by the thousands, most of it available to sample before you buy. The centerpiece is the jalapeno eating contest, scored by the weight of peppers eaten in thirty seconds, with cash prizes for the bravest stomachs. Admission is $4, parking is in a farm field, and the crowd is a mix of serious chiliheads chasing rare varieties and families who came for the food and stayed to watch someone regret the eating contest. It sells out nothing and hurries nowhere - that's the charm.