The Moorhead American Legion at 303 30th St. N was the place to be on Saturday, March 11. Chili fans from across the Red River Valley assembled to see who would win the title of best chili in the 28th Annual Coors Light Chili Cook-Off.

Finalists from events across the region, including Jamestown, Fargo-Moorhead, Detroit Lakes and Perham, brought their winning chili to Moorhead for the finals. “It’s 30 single events throughout January and February ,and we get a winner from every event that we pull in for our finals,” explained Joel Rehder, Minnesota Sales supervisor for Bergseth Bros., the Fargo distributor that sponsored the event. “Each event is free to enter, you just show up with your chili.” Over 400 chili entries were received this year, the highest number of entries to date.

Each chili entry was judged on a scale of 1 to 10 in four categories, aroma, appearance, texture and taste. Dave Hughes was named the winner in a blind taste test conducted by four judges. The event will return in 2018, with qualifying events beginning in January and the finals occurring in late February or early March.