09/23/2026
🌶️🏅 MEET OUR BLUE RIBBON CHILI JUDGES! 🏅🌶️
There’s something NEW cooking at this year’s Cypress Community Festival! For the first time, our Chili Cookoff will feature a Blue Ribbon Award, and we’ve assembled a special panel of judges to decide who takes home the honor!
Chief Mark Lauderback, Cypress Police Department
Principal Jennifer Brown, Cypress High School
Hank Machal, Kiwanis Club of Cypress Leader & Festival Sponsor
Candi Kern, Fourth District PTALeader & former Trustee for Cypress School District
Ron Hoshi, Trustee for Anaheim Union High School District
So what exactly does Blue Ribbon mean?
Unlike our traditional Tasters’ Choice Awards, where YOU purchase a tasting ballot, sample the entries and vote for your favorites, the Blue Ribbon competition is blind judged by our official judging panel. Our judges won’t know whose chili they’re tasting. Each entry will be judged and scored on the same criteria, and those scores will determine our 2026 Blue Ribbon winner! 🏆
And don’t worry… Tasters’ Choice isn’t going anywhere! You’ll still get to taste, vote and help crown the public’s favorites. See you there, Cypress!
📅 Saturday, September 26
📍 Cypress Community Festival at Oak Knoll Park
⏰ Festival Hours 12 pm - 7 pm
🌶️ Chili Tasting 1 pm - 4 pm