Celebrating Asparagus! :: giving more money to local charities
2008 Asparagus Festival Breaks Attendance Records
Two Top-Ranked Competitive Eaters Clash For Coveted Asparagus Title
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Celebrating Asparagus! :: year giving more money to local charities 06/20/2008
The 2008 Stockton Asparagus Festival, completed another record breaking year giving more money to local charities than ever before. The festival organization handed out checks to local charities in the amount of $461,912. Bringing the total festival donation to over $4.5 million since it began in 1986.
Board President, Sheriff Steve Moore unveiled the check, commending the volunteer "spear-it!" Sheriff Moore stated, "volunteer’s worked a whopping 28,960 hours and received an hourly dividend of $15.95 per hour worked at the festival. We could not produce an event of this magnitude without their dedication to this event."
Festival Executive Director, Kate Post, noted, "this is the largest charitable food festival in California and beyond. We proudly donated to 102 local charities. Something our community can truly be proud of and is co-sponsored by the City of Stockton."
Next year will be the 24th Annual Stockton Asparagus Festival to be held at the Downtown Waterfront, April 24-26, 2009.
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Joey Owns Stockton! 4/26/2008
Joey Chestnut spearheaded another exciting tempura fried asparagus eating contest today and won the event by downing 8.8 pounds of the green vegetable.
Pat Bertoletti placed second with 7.14 pounds and Erik the Red took third place with 4.75, edging out Juris "my abs don't lie" Shibiyama by a quarter of a pound.
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Stockton, CA…The recently completed 2008 Stockton Asparagus Festival - the Best of the West Food Fest - had its best festival ever, with record attendance that reached 110,000 visitors. The three-day, multi-event, food and entertainment festival was held April 25th through April 27th at the downtown Stockton waterfront, the fifth year that the Festival was held at this venue.
The Stockton Asparagus Festival, the nationally acclaimed festival broke attendance records last year as well when more than 40,000 pounds of world-class, deep-fried asparagus was enjoyed at the Festival. This year, the Festival featured two performing stages, an Asparagus Alley where the deep-fried asparagus was served, amazing celebrity cooking demonstration kitchens, the Great Spear-It Run, an Olympic Pole Vault exhibition and high school competition, Tyson the Skateboarding bull dog, craft show, 600 booths, displays and exhibits.
"Our record attendance represents a 16.87% increase in ticket sales, including tickets purchased on-site, comp tickets and e-tickets, which enjoyed a 50% increase in its second year of online ticket sales" noted Kate Post, Executive Director of the Stockton Asparagus Festival. "The huge attendance bodes well for all of the participating non-profit organizations. Last year we distributed $438,107 to over 100 charities, and this year we should exceed that number," added Ms. Post.
Over the past 22 years, the Stockton Asparagus Festival was able to distribute over $4 million dollars to local charities. In 2007, over 100 local charities and community organizations logged more than 28,000 volunteer hours. That number should be greater in 2008. This year, the Stockton Asparagus Festival will be handing out the charity donations on June 18th, at 5:30 pm at the Sheraton Stockton at Regent Pointe.
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Joey Owns Stockton! 4/26/2008
Joey Chestnut spearheaded another exciting tempura fried asparagus eating contest today and won the event by downing 8.8 pounds of the green vegetable.
Pat Bertoletti placed second with 7.14 pounds and Erik the Red took third place with 4.75, edging out Juris "my abs don't lie" Shibiyama by a quarter of a pound.
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TWO TOP-RANKED COMPETITIVE EATERS CLASH FOR COVETED ASPARAGUS TITLE
Chestnut, Bertoletti Battle for Honor and $2,500
An all-star cast of the world’s best competitive eaters will gather at the Stockton Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA on April 26th, 2008, for the World Deep-Fried Asparagus-Eating Championship. The competition will commence at 12:00 pm on the Main Stage at the Weber Point Event Center.
The contest marks an eagerly awaited match-up between the two best competitive eaters on the planet: San Jose’s #1-ranked Joey Chestnut, and his archrival / good friend, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti of Chicago. Both have surpassed Takeru Kobayashi in the rankings, and are 7-7 against each other in their last 12 meetings. In their most recent meeting, on March 2nd in Houston, Chestnut edged out Bertoletti in matzo balls, eating 78 to Bertoletti’s 76. Nipping against their heels will be last year’s runner-up, 12th-ranked fry bread eating champ, Erik "The Red" Denmark. And an exciting new addition to this year’s lineup is 23rd-ranked Juris "Dr. BigTime" Shibayama, a spine surgeon, body builder, and rising star on the circuit.
The event will feature delicious, thick deep-fried spears of locally grown asparagus. The winner will take home a cash prize of $1,500 and the beautiful champion’s trophy. Second place will receive $500 and third will leave with $250.
"The Stockton Asparagus Festival is elated to once again host the world’s greatest eaters," said Kate Post, executive director of the Stockton Asparagus Festival. "The eating contest is a fan favorite here, and we look forward to a dramatic battle between the two best eaters out there."
The Stockton Asparagus Festival, called the Best of the West Food Fest by Sunset magazine, is a three-day, multi-event, food and entertainment festival that celebrates asparagus. The festival, held April 25-27, features three performance stages, an Asparagus Alley with delicious deep-fried asparagus, a celebrity chef cooking demonstration kitchen, a fabulous Spear-Its of the Valley wine and beer pavilion, and exhibits by more than hundreds of food purveyors and 100 specialty merchandise vendors. The festival is the largest charitable special event in San Joaquin County. Over 5,000 volunteers representing over 100 non-profit organizations work to make it a huge success. To date over $4 million has been donated to local charities. www.asparagusfest.com.
Major League Eating (MLE), the governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducts more than 80 events annually, including the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, NY. The competitive eating community, which numbers more than 6,000 veteran and rookie athletes, travels the nation in search of top titles and the glory that they provide.
Event Info:
The World Deep Fried Asparagus-Eating Championship
Stockton Asparagus Festival, Saturday, April 26, at 12:00 pm.
Main Stage, Weber Point Event Center, Downtown Stockton, CA
Festival Admission: $10 adults; $5 teens 11-17 and seniors; under 10 free.
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