Spice is an incredible thing. It adds an incredible dimension to food that you’ll either become addicted to or avoid at all costs. Chilli, in particular, is very polarising – you love it or you hate it. Regardless of your personal feelings on the touchy subject, chilli has some amazing health benefits and can really make the difference to your cooking. For some people, in particular, they are absolutely mad for the stuff and are constantly looking for the next big bite.

Whatever camp you’re in, either an enthusiast or just simply curious, then the Ignite Chilli festival this year is the place to be in just a few weeks time – Saturday the 17th of November.

The history of chilli itself is filled with some rather interesting stories as to its origins and tales spun about out-of-body experiences leading to revolutionary new culinary experiences. One such story involves some very spiritual roots. Sister Mary of Agreda, a Spanish nun in the early 1600’s was said to experience vivid out-of-body experiences from her convent. After waking from just such an experience, in which she was quoted as having preached Christianity in the Americas, she found her ‘spirit’ had written down the first ever recipe for Chilli Con Carne – a dish that heavily features the chilli pepper. Despite being used as a spice, the chilli pepper is actually a fruit, originally from Mexico, that then spread around the world to revolutionise cooking and early medicine.

The Ignite Chilli Festival is a celebration of all things Chilli. Bulcock Street in Caloundra will host the event, with an assortment of stalls hosting over 100 unique brands, products and uses for chillies. The vision of the festival is to showcase a diverse range of local and visiting chilli enthusiasts offering anything and everything chilli – from arts and crafts to homewares and medicines, too, of course, food! The event itself will start at 1 pm on the 17th of November and the party will continue on until 8 pm that evening, with plenty of live entertainment, and more spice than you can shake a stick at. Tickets are free but limited, so grab yours now, and follow the development of the event as it nears completion here on their website. There are still plenty of stalls on offer as well for any last minute producers who want to show off what they have to offer in the world of Chilli.