Hot Chili and Cool Cars is an event that happens annually in Rocklin on Pacific Street. It’s where chili and old car enthusiasts can come and eat great chili while looking at some cool old cars. This year marked the 22nd time this event has been held and it was just as great as it always is.

There were 19 chili stands up for votes and I tried most of them. Some of them were very hot, some were more mild, and some were average. While this and the many, many cars and booths were all the same, there were some changes that were made from previous years. The location of where the cars are normally set up and where the chili is usually set up were switched. While this was strange, all was well and I continued on.

At Hot Chili and Cool Cars, there are various booths set up in between the chili and cars, promoting their businesses and some were even selling handmade crafts. It was fun to look at what each booth had to offer. Some of the businesses would let you spin a wheel and you could win a free prize. Some would let you take candy from a bowl. These were the most common ways people would promote their businesses.

Of all of the cool cars that were displayed, the judges decided that the best car was a 1968 Ford Mustang. There were many winners in other categories, though, like Best Hot Rod, Best Restored Car, Best Interior and many more.

What I noticed this year as opposed to last year is that there were more cars than normal. They were all very nice and some even dated back to the 1930’s. It was very cool, as the name implies, to see all of these beautiful cars lined up, the sun shining down on them.

As the band played, I went to the chili and began to look around at all of the people that had set up. What surprised me the most was seeing that some people in Ms. Andrew’s culinary class had a chili booth. Members included Alexia Cook, Chandler Condell, Sam London, Nathaniel Hermanson, Ann Cho and Jeremy Turangan.

“We were supposed to be there around 5:30ish. I was really ready for it though,” said Nathaniel Hermanson about the event. “It was really amazing. I liked cooking the chili, I liked seeing all of the people, serving all of them.”

“It was my first time working at it, but I’ve been to one before,” Sam London said. “It was really hot, but I loved it and would love to work at it again.”

The chili they made was very good, even though they didn’t win any of the categories. The panel of judges said that the best chili was RC Willey’s chili, but the people’s choice was G&C’s chili.

The cars and chili were both cool and hot this year, as they always are. While the new layout was odd at first, it turned out to be a nice change, as more cars were able to come in and there was more chili to have. Let’s hope it’s just as good next year.