Crown History of Pepper Festival
photo credit: Trace Ramsey
A central piece of The Amazing Pepper Festival is the crowning of the Pepper King and Queen every year. As a tribute to the artisans that spend their talents and passions, we wanted to capture the past 7 years of crowns.
In 2010, year three of Pepper Festival, our collaborator Kristy Yule of Briar Chapel came up with the idea of a king and queen. What does the person have to do to become the great Pepper King and Queen we ask? Sell pepper tickets of course…pure crass commerce determines who is crowned…it is a fundraiser after all!
We found Ashley Carter, proprietor of Goldbug Studios in Raleigh. Let’s just say that Ashley and Goldbug Studios were a perfect match for Abundance. Glitter was everywhere and the studio was full of magic. Ashley made the very first crowns and the King and Queen were Kristy Yule herself and John Battiste of Angelina’s Kitchen. They also had huge carafes of red wine and red capes. The Mayor of Pittsboro, Randy Voller crowned Kristy and John, thus beginning the tradition.
The next year, we commissioned the Art Power couple, Janice Rieves and Joe Kenlan. Janice is a mosaic and glass artist among other talents and Joe is a renowned stone mason. The two of them put their heads together and created huge paper mache peppers as the crowns. They were beautiful! And also a bit heavy…but we loved it. The 2011 King was Lyle Estill, of Piedmont Biofuels and a founder of Abundance. The Queen was Shannon McSwiney of Briar Chapel. Shannon was with child and made a perfect Pepper Queen.
photo credit: Jonathan Young
In 2012, Barb Yanik of Briar Chapel and John Battiste of Angelina’s Kitchen were the King and Queen. The crowns were made by a mystery artist and if you know who they are, please let us know and we’ll get you a couple of free pepper festival tickets! They did appear to be extremely uncomfortable! Royalty is not for the faint of heart!
In 2013, Melody Eggen created the crowns. Melody has worked as the costume designer for the American Dance festival, Bates Dance Festival and numerous colleges and choreographers. Her crowns were soft and easy to wear. We loved them so much we asked her to do the next year also!
Melody models with Farmer Doug Jones aka Dr. Pepper and intern, Emily.
photo credit: Jonathan Young
David Larsen and Erin Messier are royalty along with Tami Schwerin, Executive Director and Lyle Estill of Piedmont Biofuels.
2014 Pepper Festival, presented by Abundance NC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo by D.L. Anderson
*These crowns were made by Melody Eggen and during the chaos of the festival, the king and queen went missing. We grabbed the headliner musician and Kristy Yule, Board President of Abundance to substitute and all was well.
In 2015, Alisa Esposito joined the Abundance team as Creative Director and boy was she creative. She made the crowns and some beautiful awards for the Chefs, Brewers & Distillers. These awards have become a distinguished honour given by celebrity food judges. The 2015 King and Queen were David Larsen and Erin Messier of David Weekly Homes, a Briar Chapel builder.
photo credit: Jonathan Young
Cherith Mangum and Jami Pearson. A big reason why Pepper Festival is so successful is Clairemont Communications and Briar Chapel.
2016 was the year of North Carolina’s HB2 “bathroom bill”. In solidarity, we crowned two Queens! Angelina of Angelina’s Kitchen and Barb Yanik of Briar Chapel. Both huge supporters of Abundance and the Pepper Festival. We also recycled the crowns made by Joe Kenlan and Janice Rieves.
This year, our Crown Designer is Andrea Batsch of Studio 17 in downtown Pittsboro. Andrea makes all sorts of designs from men’s ties, saris and anything you bring her. She is a beautiful fabric artist and recycler.
Who will be the King and Queen of the 10th Annual 2017 Pepper Festival? You’ll have to come out to see!
Where: The Great Meadow, Briar Chapel, Chapel Hill
When: Sunday, September 24, 2017: 3-6pm
Info, Chef, Brewers list, Music & Tickets are HERE!
News + Stories:
Crown History of Pepper Festival
A central piece of The Amazing Pepper Festival is the crowning of the Pepper King and Queen every year. As a tribute to the artisans that spend their talents and passions, we wanted to capture the past 7 years of crowns. In 2010, year three of Pepper Festival, our collaborator Kristy Yule of Briar Chapel…
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Inside Abundance: an Intern’s Story
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Upcoming workshops + events
Whippoorwill Council
An Abundance & Sparkroot Farm Offering • Sept 10 thru Nov 19, 2017, 1:30-3:30 pm:
The Whippoorwill Council is an 8 week grief group designed to facilitate an open environment where young people can connect with others who are experiencing death and share their personal stories. It is not intended to provide therapy, but rather to create an exploration and opportunity to safely start a healing experience using the tools of: Nature, Earth Skills, Movement, Art, Drumming and discussion to understand and express feelings and grief. This group is designed for youth, ages 15 – 18.
Pepperfest – 10th Annual! Call for Chefs, Food Artisans and Volunteers!
An ABUNDANCE EVENT • Sept 24, 2017, 3-6 PM:
This 10th Annual PepperFest comes at the perfect time to celebrate the year’s harvest, enjoy the cooler weather after summer’s intense heat, and savor the deliciousness of Carolina peppers! It’s a chance to hang out with your friends, listen to fantastic live music, and sample all you can eat of pepper-themed dishes and beverages, made by dozens of star chefs, brewers, distillers and more, from central N.C.
The 10th Annual Amazing Pepper Festival
An ABUNDANCE EVENT • SEPT 24, 2017, 3-6 pm:
2017’s 10th Annual PepperFest comes at the perfect time to celebrate the year’s harvest, enjoy the cooler weather after summer’s intense heat, and savor the deliciousness of Carolina peppers! It’s a chance to hang out with your friends, listen to fantastic live music, and sample all you can eat of pepper-themed dishes and beverages, made by dozens of star chefs, brewers, distillers and more, from central N.C.
Spicy Kid Chef Competition!
An ABUNDANCE EVENT • SEPT 24, 2017, 3-6 pm:
Ever wanted to be a top chef? Now’s your chance! The 10th Annual Pepper Festival, one of the largest chef competitions in North Carolina, celebrates local food and southern culture in a hot new way. The Festival challenges approximately 50 of North Carolina’s top chefs to create one-of-a-kind recipes, from pepper donuts to pepper drinks, using one secret ingredient: the locally bred and grown North Carolina pepper.
This year, the Pepper Festival is hosting a kid chef competition for children grades 4–7 who love to cook, bake or play in the kitchen! Each child will have the chance to craft his or her own favorite peppery creation to be showcased at the Pepper Festival.
Sustainability Tour of our Eco-Industrial Park
FIRST SUNDAY 1-2PM
Come visit and see a working sustainable biodiesel plant, a sustainable agriculture farm, a biodiversity garden, a green building model, an organic local food distributor, a huge solar array with shade-tolerant plants growing underneath it, a micro-distillery, and an organic pesticide/herbicide manufacturer, and much more!
ELDERHOOD with Stephen Jenkinson at Sparkroot Farm
A SPARKROOT FARM EVENT • Nov 3: 7-9:30 pm & Nov 4, 2017, 9 am – 4 pm:
Imagine a future that replaces retirement with esteemed elderhood, where young people receive real recognition of their worth and purpose in life and a living example of enduring discernment and courage for the hard and often empty times that are upon us all. Grandparents who are grand not only for their children’s children, but for all the young ones, whose grandness comes from having wrangled wisdom from experience, from becoming more elder, less senior citizen. Come contemplate something of the skills of grace in a graceless time, of mentorship and true teaching, of fierce and exemplary grief and compassion.
Stephen Jenkinson: DEATH FAIRE Keynote Workshop
An ABUNDANCE EVENT • Nov 5, 2017, 12-2 pm:
2017’s 2nd Annual Death Faire welcomes back Stephen Jenkinson. Die Wise teaches the skills of dying, skills that have to be learned in the course of living deeply and well. Dying could be and must be the fullest expression and incarnation of what you’ve learned by living. It’s a moral obligation to die well. If you love somebody, if you care about the world that’s to come after you, if you want somebody to be spared the lunacy of what you’ve seen, you’ve got to die wise.
Death Faire – 2nd Annual!
A Celebration of Life
with Art, Live Music, Dance and Much More• Nov 5, 12 – 8 PM:
Join us for a rich day of celebration and remembrance… a day to experience and a day to get in touch with our souls. Open Poetry and Story Telling, Kid’s Activities, Interactive Altar, Fire Show, Funeral Procession, Face Painting, Costume Contest, Design Your Own Coffin, Dancing, “Ded” Talks…
