Get ready for a Soup extravaganza at Pot O’Hot Fest on Feb. 24 at Trailhead

There’s nothing more satisfying during winter than piping hot soup, and that’s exactly what Trailhead Beer Garden owner Jeremy Walther is banking on with the First-ever “Pot O’ Hot Fest!” also known as “A Kerrville Crafted Soup Cook-off” from noon to 8 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Schreiner University-based destination.

Walther said the event is intended to celebrate the creativity and originality of food and beverage makers in Kerrville’s beautiful cold season.

The event will feature three live music performances, and Schreiner University’s Communication Design Department will be conducting block printing demos inside the beer garden. The department will be selling blank canvas tote bags, and a choice of three or four artist designs that can be printed on the totes while you watch. Alternatively, you can bring your own T-shirt, bandana, or even card stock paper and one of the designs can be printed on your material for $5.

The event also includes a Pub Crawl. A $25 ticket includes a custom 5oz tasting glass, a pub passport, and half-pours at six craft beverage tasting rooms in Kerrville: Basement Brewers of Texas, Pint & Plow Brewing Co, Off Main Brewing, Busted Sandal Brewing, Turtle Creek Olives & Vines, and Trailhead Beer Garden.

Doug Landrum, co-owner of Basement Brewers of Texas, says that they try to host monthly pub crawls that connect all the downtown breweries and wineries, so the Pot O’ Hot Fest is the February version. The first five pubs are all within walking distance of each other, and Trailhead is an easy walk or ride down the River Trail from downtown.

The heart of the festival will be homemade soup. Ingram ISD Superintendent Bobby Templeton was one of the first to sign up as a judge. “We see chili cook-offs, bean cook-offs, gumbo cook-offs, but there are endless variations to soup,” Templeton said. “People get into soup. I’m coming hungry.”

Templeton will be joined by Sheriff Larry Leitha, County Commissioner Jonathan Letz, Schreiner University professor Kiley Miller, Doyle Community Center’s Clifton Fifer, La Escondida’s Anabel Medrano, Fredericksburg Standard editor Brent Burgess, and other community leaders on the Judges panel, which will award a $500 prize purse to the most worthy soups.

Jeremy Walther anticipates a memorable culinary experience. “One of the chefs from the Dietert Center kitchen has signed up as a Soup Maker. I’m told they took home a $10,000 win at a national soup competition a few years back. Makers are bringing their A-game.”

Soup Makers are limited to 25 entrants, and there are few spots left. Walther says there has been a great response, and he was hoping for more smack talk between restaurants and other commercial kitchens, but the majority of that has come from the individuals who have entered. That $10,000 pro hasn’t scared anyone; it’s actually made them even more eager. They all want to take down Goliath.

Tickets to be a Soup Taster are $30 and are limited to 150. Each Taster receives a custom soup mug and two voting tickets for the Tasters Choice awards. Kim Durden, a Soup Maker entrant from Comfort, says, “I was doing the math of what it would cost to buy tickets for everyone I know, but that got out of control, so I’m just gonna win this thing with soup.”

Pot O’ Hot Fest is sponsored by Schreiner University, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, Rick’s Near Beer, The Kerr County Lead, and Pint & Plow.

For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit the Trailhead Beer Garden website at www.trailheadbeergarden.com.