The grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center will take on an avalanche of chips and a flood of melted cheese as it hosts the ninth annual World Cheese Dip Championships on Saturday.
"It is a food festival with an Arkansas twist," explains event chairwoman Anna Morshedi. "Since cheese dip originated in Arkansas, it's appropriate that we [host] this festival."
For this year's festival, 30 amateur and professional teams will gather, dishing up samples of their best cheesy concoctions as they compete for various awards, including the ultimate title of World Cheese Dip Champion.
Some awards will be People's Choice, voted on by festivalgoers, while a panel of judges will do blind taste tests to determine the rest.
When visitors enter, they will pick up their voting tokens, their chips (courtesy of On the Border) and then are free to walk around and sample as many of the dips as they'd like.
Everyone is encouraged to take a muffin tin for easier dip collection and transportation.
Parking can get tight so organizers encourage people to take advantage of free downtown trolley rides. Park farther away, explore everything downtown has to offer and catch the trolley at the Heifer International stop nearby.
World Cheese Dip Championship
Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock
Tickets: advance $10, at the gate $15, children 5 and under free
This year, for the first time, they're adding a Kids Zone, complete with inflatables, a baby feeding and changing station and "hands-on cheesy experiments," courtesy of the Museum of Discovery. It's all part of an effort to make the festival even more family-friendly.
Morshedi says, "This is to give families and people a place to sit and enjoy the festival — stay a little longer than they have in the past."
There will also be a couple of food trucks for those who want to expand their meal or snack beyond just cheese dip.
The point of all the cheesy fun is to raise awareness and money for Harmony Health Clinic, a nonprofit clinic that provides free dental and medical care to uninsured people in Pulaski County.
Festival organizers have a pet phrase: "Every dip makes a difference."
And they're hoping this year makes a bigger difference than ever before. Last year's festival drew more than 7,500 people and they expect about 9,000 on Saturday.
"It is an event that everyone in every phase of life, every demographic can enjoy," Morshedi says. "Cheese dip is one of the few things everyone loves. It's the love language for all of us."
Weekend on 10/03/2019