Each January, the city of Irving gets a little hotter than the rest of North Texas, when ZestFest comes to town! There is plenty of fun, and food, for spicy-food lovers of all ages! The 3-day festival brings some of the area’s best celebrity chefs and vendors all together for lots of food tasting and fun! After watching the hilarious, and much slower than you would expect, jalapeno eating contest, I have my husband in training for next year!
Know Before You Go
Purchase your tickets online to save!
Everything is held indoors, so no need to bundle up!
Parking is $10.00 at the Irving Convention Center.
Celebrity Chef Stage
My favorite part of ZestFest is definitely the cooking demos, given by some top local chefs such as Jon Bonnel from Fort Worth, owner of Waters and Bonnel’s Fine Texas cuisine! There were also several nationally-known tv chefs, such as Loreal Gavin, better known as “The Butcher Babe” and Aryen Moore-Alston, the “Sweet Potato Baby”! None of the chef’s disappointed with great recipes and plenty of food for the audience, although none-so-much as Texas’ own Eddie Deen, who kept everyone loaded down in ribs!
Deen, who has catered the past 4 Gubernatorial Inaugurations, as well as George Bush’s Presidential Inauguration, puts on a terrific presentation, as much about life as about ribs. Click HERE to read more.
Vendors
While I was there to watch the chefs, my husband was clearly there for the food! We loved walking and talking to all the unique vendors, especially those from Texas!
Texas Toffee is located in Plano, Tx, and there Gotcha Cinnamon Pepper toffee was incredible! To check out more of their products, click HERE.
Red Kitchen Foods
Located in Keller, chef Peter Mollett brought his amazing sauces, taking home 4 awards during the festival! I love their facebook page, with great dinner ideas, recipes and check out their upcoming cooking classes, too, just click HERE.
Things To Do in Irving
Play
During the summer, the Fritz Park Petting Zoo is a free zoo filled with fun little animals! Click HERE to read more.
Head over to DFW Airport and let the kids run around Founders Plaza, where you can watch the planes take off and land! At the airport, kids will love the FREE Skylink that shuttles you around the airport, it’s really worth the price of parking! Did you know you can also book a tour of DFW Airport? Click HERE for more information!
The Dallas Panic Room is a fun with family and friends! Click HERE to visit their website.
The SUP Shack on the Madalay Canal in Las Colinas offers stand up paddleboard rentals along the famed canal! Click HERE to read more.
Eat
The Ranch at Las Colinas is amazing for your BIG events, especially since after dinner you can splurge on a helicopter tour of Big D, which departs at the restaurant! Click HERE to visit their website!
Stay
I’m still in love with the NYLO Irving/Las Colinas! Beautiful, boutique style hotel with great architectural touches, and not one but two heated outdoor pools!
ZestFest
Click HERE to visit their website.
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!
Michelle
Having Fun in the TEXAS Sun is on PINTEREST! Use it as a quick resource to find activities in different Texas towns! Click HERE!
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