Grab your bib and get to Austin for the National Taco Championship happening March 30, 2019, at the Austin American-Statesman parking lot! If you’re the type of person friends look to when they need a good recommendation for tacos, you need to get your taste buds to the Texas Hill Country to see who’s coming up with some of the best in the business – including a top-shelf Tequila Expo with which to pair them!
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the National Taco Championships will feature all your favorite types of tacos done every way imaginable. And that’s in addition to the tequila expo, the Ay Chihuahua! Beauty Pageant, Lucha Libre Wrestling, a Hot Chili Pepper Contest, and a Day of the Dead Wedding! It sounds too good to be true! But it makes for one event you’ll need to get access to. Local bands and DJs will be playing the music that pairs so well with all of it, you’ll think you’ve gone to taco tasting heaven!
Photo: Pxhere
Speaking of tacos, over 35 competitors are in the running for the championship. Event-goers can try their wares for $3 each, and they run the gamut from professional taco makers to restaurants, and chefs through food trucks. You won’t be disappointed! Such leading names in the business as Torchy’s Tacos, Eldorado Café, Be More Pacific, Gabriela’s, Holy Taco!, and House of the Rising Tanuki-san are just some of the great offerings.
First kicked-off in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2010, the National Taco Championships event in Austin is the only sanctioned one of its kind in America. Now going into its tenth anniversary, it’s taking the taco show on the road, with additional stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York. The final tour stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November of this year will feature the $100,000 Grand Championship showdown!
Photo: Pxhere
Tickets are available in two different options, making it easy for aficionados to experience the fun at great price points. General Admission (on sale for $15 prior to March 1 and $20 after that), as well as VIP (available for the low cost of $120) are both available for purchase on the National Taco Championships link provided here. To amp up your experience, the Tequila Expo is also offered as a $20 add-on! Not only that, but the event is still looking for contestants, performers, and volunteers. You could become an officially sanctioned Taco Society Judge, an Ay Chihuahua! Beauty Pageant or Austin Hot Chili Pepper contestant, or even a performing band or DJ! For more details on how to become a part of the show or official rules for the pageant or the chili pepper contest, visit the National Taco Championships website here. Get thee to 305 South Congress Avenue in Austin, where the tacos will be flowing like wine… er’ tequila, and the drinks can’t be topped!
