Picky October weather forced the 2015 World Cheese Dip Championship to find shelter down in the River Market under the pavilions, but that didn’t stop the crowds from coming out to get a taste of that sweet, sweet queso. The crowds waiting to get in stretched all the way down the sidewalk, and once inside there was a sea of humanity all chomping on chips and dodging the drips of velvet-smooth cheese. Here are a few scenes from what we saw, and there are others over on our Facebook page.
There are two major families of cheese dip: White and Yellow. I personally prefer the white stuff, but there ‘s something to be said for a good yellow cheese dip, especially those cumin-heavy styles that Arkansas is known for. Both types were well represented at this year’s festival.
Two of the best yellow versions came from our friends at Yellow Rocket Concepts, who represented well with dips from both Big Orange and Lost Forty. Adding bacon and fresh jalapeno is never a bad thing.
I found the amateur cheese-dip artists to be just as exciting as the pros. Some of these teams have been coming to the Championship for years, and it was good to see (and taste) some old familiar favorites.
It was, of course, Halloween, so that gave everyone license to let it all hang out and let the freak flags fly. I very much approve of this.
Finally, this picture of me was taken right after I polished off my second bag of chips on my second go-round of the booths. It is the first recorded case of Cheese Overdose ever recorded, and I hope I rest in peace. Really great time at the festival this year, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did. What was your favorite queso this year? Were there any places you hoped to see that weren’t there? Call them out. Let’s get the cheese flowing through the streets of Little Rock once again.