Chileheads - both amateur and professional - gather this weekend at Beckett Lake Nursery in Clearwater for the sixth annual Pepper Extravaganza.
The festival features more than 85 varieties of peppers from mild to volcanic, and includes seminars, vendors, cooking demonstrations and free samples. Amateurs can bring their homemade salsas and hot sauces for contests, too. Contests are limited to 20 entrants per day and two entries per family. Entry deadline is 1:30 p.m. each day.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday with the amateur salsa contest at 3 p.m. Sunday's festival is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the amateur hot sauce contest at 3. Cooking demonstrations will be given at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. both days. Growing seminars are at 1 p.m. both days.
Beckett Lake is at 2251 Montclair Road (west of Belcher Road, about a block north of Sunset Point Road.) Admission and parking are free. For information, call (727) 796-7950.
