City of Lewisville Tamale-eating title back up for grabs at Lewisville’s Western Day festival Page style not found: User Content Style Email; 88846BAA8D6CB2D086257380006992C7 - Page cannot be rendered

Tamale-eating title back up for grabs at Lewisville’s Western Day festival
Wednesday, August 20, 2008


Some of the world’s finest, fastest eaters will meet in Lewisville on Saturday, Sept. 27, to compete for the title of the world’s top tamale eater in the fourth annual World Tamale Eating Championship.

The event, organized by the Lewisville Convention and Visitors Bureau and officially sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, is being held in conjunction with the popular Western Day festival.

Last year’s competition was won by Tim “Eater X” Janus of New York, who downed 71 tamales in 12 minutes to capture the title, beating fellow competitor Rich LeFevre by 20 tamales and shattering the world record. Janus and LeFevre also were one-two in the 2006 event.

The inaugural event was held during the Bassmaster Elite 50 Country Fair at Lewisville Lake in June 2005 and was won by Levi Oliver of Austin, who established a world record by eating 36 tamales in 10 minutes, 30 seconds. That record was beaten in May of the following year in Houston by Chip “Burger” Simpson of Pennsylvania before being broken by Janus in Lewisville in 2006 and again in 2007.

The IFOCE is the governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducting more than 70 events annually including the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, N.Y. The competitive eating community, which numbers more than 3,000 veteran and rookie athletes, travels the nation in search of top titles and the glory that they provide.

The top six finishers in the Sept. 27 event in Lewisville will share $3,500 in prize money, with $1,500 going to the champion and $1,000 to the runner-up. Registration is being conducted by the IFOCE. Interested eaters over the age of 18 should call 212.627.5766 or sign up online at www.ifoce.com.

The contest will start at 1 p.m. on the front steps of City Hall. Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory in Lewisville is donating the tamales for contest. For Western Day festival information, please visit www.cityoflewisville.com.

2007 Final Results – World Tamale Eating Championship Past Champions – World Tamale Eating Championship
Progression of tamale-eating World Record

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