My Nanas Best Tasting Salsa Challenge

Went for the first time this year and such a blast with a huge group of friends. So many good salsa and the margaritas were amazing. There was a pomegranate salsa that was my favorite. Will be going again next year!
Defiantly recommend buying the tray, makes its so easy to carry the chips and multiple salsas.

I go to the salsa festival almost every year (and have even flown in for it when I have lived out of state). I started going back when it was in Scottsdale and I have seen it grow from a small festival to the behemoth it is today.
This year I was a little disappointed for a couple reasons:
1.) Participants were only given a very small bag of chips (though we were able to charm a couple extra bags out for our group); in previous years, an unlimited number of chips were provided.
2.) Only ONE of the hot salsas was hot enough to make me wish I ate dairy. I wish I knew which it was, but I suspect it was the booth NEXT to the avocado salsa that had a bit of a kick to it… because I took one bite and my throat was ON FIRE.
Now, I LOVE hot salsa. I have gone in previous years and have just about had a bleeding tongue. That is not the goal for me, though. Taste is. Unfortunately, this year I only tasted two or three salsas that I liked. One was a milder red salsa that would be a nice topping for fish. I also liked the hot avocado salsa and one other red salsa that was spicy, but not too hot.
Still, the lack of hot salsas at the festival was apparent. I wonder what happened to them this year? Did all these companies go out of business? Is the festival just too cost prohibitive for them to participate now?
What was good about the festival?
Cheap margaritas. $ 6 for a pretty strong drink at a festival is always appreciated.
Walgreens was there, as usual, handing out Tums and selling bottled water for 2/​$ 1. Thank you Walgreen’s! I always start off with two Tums before eating the salsa and get more as needed. This year I only needed two. :(The bottled water was necessary!
Friends and food always make for a good time. Thanks to my three best buds for a nice time. :)
Will I go again? Of course! It benefits a hemophiliac charity… and it is still my favorite food festival in town.

I have been going to the Salsa Challenge since I was 6 years old. It has grown from a tiny little salsa challenge in the parking lot of Aunt Chiladas to a huge event at Tempe Town Lake.
While still a wonderful event that benefits a very worthy cause, there were a few things this year that were disappointing and need some improvement.
The first is the shade issue. It gets hotter and hotter every year. It was a blistering day this year. I feel that they should have provided more large tents for people to take shelter. There were people crammed under trees to relieve themselves from the sun. The only other escapes from the sun were the VIP tent and the margarita mixing event tent (which was not appropriate for families).
Speaking of the margarita tent, that is another issue. The last few years my husband and I have had phenomenal free poured margaritas at the margarita tent. They had a few varieties to pick from. The chambord one was great. This year they only had two varieties of pre-​mixed margaritas. LAME… Apparently some city head honcho did not like the party atmosphere of the tent. (Which until this year was 21 and over) Now anyone can get into the tent and listen to the funny but highly adult bartending contest and auction.
The chip situation was another issue. Every person gets a ticket for ONE tiny bag of chips. My husband and I felt very constricted with our chip rations. We were a little anxious not to waste our chips on bad salsa.
Like Gordon E. also mentioned, there «hot» varieties did not impress my husband. I thought there were many good salsas however. And the vendors were having fun.
The Groupon line was lame as well. It sucked having to wait in 2 lines.
Hopefully the organizers will take these criticisms to heart.

Eh… The salsa was OK.
I admit to being a bit disappointed by the salsa I ate today. I must have taste tested 90% of the salsa available from the vendors (mild, medium, hot, extra hot, citrus, mango, pineapple, avocado, etc.). I really wasn’t very impressed by the salsa today. Overall, it was average.
I was mostly disappointed in the available «hot» salsa. Most things I ate that were presented as «hot» tasted mild to medium at best. I’m not saying I want a million on the Scoville scale but the heat just didn’t seem to be there. Most of the salsa also tasted fairly bland and/​or the producers went very heavy with one of the ingredients (too much habenero, too much halapeno, too much salt, too much cilantro, etc.). A few were decent while two stood out to me. I did eat one salsa that went heavy on the «ghost» pepper. That was unenjoyable (so I won’t name it). At least it ended up being hot.
The two salsas that stood out were:
1. Salsa Patron, Scottsdale, AZ — Their hot salsa was flavorful with chucks of goodness and a quick hit of spice and heat. Excellent job!!!
2. Rosita’s Fine Mexican Food — They had the best «every day» hot salsa that I could eat from a local restaurant located in Tempe, AZ.
A few other thoughts:
A. The location was excellent on the lake. Don’t change that one.
B. It’s AZ. The weather was beautiful!
C. All the vendors were SUPER friendly, polite, helpful, and eager to earn business. They did a GREAT job with presentations and service. Thank you!
D. The live music is a huge win!
E. «Chip Tents» should be inside the event and not just at the gates. It creates a walk for patrons and isn’t convenient.
F. The «voting» by donation is a bad idea for the vendors and organizers. Use a ballot to vote. Most people aren’t going to give $ 1.00 per tent for their favorite salsa. That could add up quickly at an event you already paid to attend.
G. $ 3.50 for the ATM fee??? Really? That’s just holding people hostage at an event that only takes cash.
H. Groupon and VIP guests with electronic tickets should be scanned in at the gates. They should not have to go to the ticket booth and stand in a line. That (along with the discount) is why we got a Groupon or are someones VIP.
Just my thoughts. I’ll definitely go again next year as I love Salsa (and Margaritas). I’d just like to see the favor profiles of the products improve.
Thanks for reading.

This was our second year at the salsa festival. We had a blast! This year was much more organized than last. Although, last year they gave everyone a ticket to vote for the best salsa… This year the vote was based on tips. I think the ticket system is much better.
They don’t gouge the drink prices, which is awesome.
The buttered tortillas are delicious!!! (My favorite booth ;))
I also won some free stuff too, yay!