Feel the heat: Chilli Smackdown at Fiesta del Fuego

Since it’s been at least a fortnight since the last street party in the Northern Quarter, it seems only right to put on another. As luck would have it there are two bank holidays in May – and on the upcoming sophomore holiday weekend High Street pays tribute to Mexican culture with a festival of chilli that includes a chilli-eating competition, a chilli market and a moruga roulette (the hottest chilli in the world, not the scorpion, though we’re not sure which is worse!). Six restaurants and bars will be competing in the Chilli Smackdown to decide who has the best chilli in the city and can crown themselves as the ‘Fuego Champions’. Chief among the contestants should be Pancho’s Burrito and Luck, Lust, Liquor & Burn – as Mexcian restaurants you would hope they’d have the edge, although our money is on dark horse Soup Kitchen whose chilli knocks our socks off every time it features on the special boards. The other competitors are Kosmonaut, Home Sweet Home and Kahlua Coffee House (who also helped organise the festival – so feel free to cry ‘FIX!’ if they win). It is a free event but if you want to taste and judge all the chilli delights on offer then apply to be a judge for just £10, which comes with a complimentary cocktail. Worth heading down for the Piñata Pit alone, this fiesta of all things fiery is one not to be missed.

Sat 25 May, High Street (outside the old fish market), 12pm, £10 to judge (booking required), FREE to attend, www.fiestadelfuego.co.uk