How to Plan a Pie Eating Contest
Pie-eating contests are a traditional event at fairs, but they’ve also been known to pop up at family reunions, company picnics, birthday parties and even at promotional gigs. There’s nothing funnier than seeing a group of people dive head first into a pie and come up looking like a 6-month old baby after his first attempt at feeding himself — pie all over face: in the eyes, in the nostrils, in the ears in the hair. Below are 10 steps to planning the perfect pie-eating contest. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Minimum of one pie per entrant
- Release-of-liability form
- Bibs or raincoats to prevent pies from getting onto clothing
- Wash rags or wipes for easy clean-up
- Water to wash down pies after contest is over
- Camera or video recorder to cover footage
- Tables
- Chairs
- Prizes
- Press release
- Decorations
- Stop watch
- Bell or chime to announce end of contest
Instructions
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How To Plan A Pie Eating Contest
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Select an event. Knowing the type of event your pie-eating contest will take place at will help you determine the theme and overall atmosphere of your pie-eating contest. If, for instance, the pie-eating contest is for a business, it helps to decide if you’ll host an event that promotes your business or a product. If, however, the event is for a family reunion or holiday party, the atmosphere will be far more relaxed.
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2
Themes excite participants, the audience and passers-by. Themes add ambience and meaning while enticing curiosity. Therefore, if the pie-eating contest is to be held on or near Halloween, for instance, the theme would include spooky decorations, costumes, jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pies. A fisherman’s fair, however, would be slightly different. It would include decorations from the sea, men and women dressed up in raincoat ensembles, lanterns and lobster pies.
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3
Pick prizes. It isn’t enough to say you’re having a pie-eating contest on such and such a date; you need to give participants a reason to enter. If the contest is to promote a business, offering the winner an item from the company store, a trip on one of the company’s cruise ships, or a role in the company’s televised commercial is a great way to promote the business, gain a little free publicity and give participants a reason to enter. If, however, the contest is for fun alone, a small token gift is enough. A token gift could be a gift certificate to a local restaurant or family-owned business, a trophy or a medal.
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4
Order the pies. It is best to have the pies delivered a day before, or the day of, the contest so that they are fresh. The yummier the pies are, the faster your contestants will eat them. There are four ways you could obtain pies for your pie-eating contest: donation from local bakeries, purchase of pies from grocery stores, have someone on the pie-eating contest committee bake them, and using pies from a pie-baking contest you host prior to the pie-eating contest.
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Determine how the winner will be chosen. Most pie-eating contests fall into two categories: the one who can eat the most pies within a specified time period, and the one who can eat a whole pie before anyone else.
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Set the rules. Hands should never be used in a pie-eating contest. It’s important to determine if the hands must be sat or tied behind one's back. It’s also important to state that nothing can be spit out in order to make room for more pie in the mouth — doing so should result in a disqualification.
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Prepare a release-of liability form. All entrants should be required to sign a form releasing the hosting company or person(s) from liability should the pie-eater have an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the pie or choke and die. Also, if promoting a business, age is essential. Most states require a signed parental form for anyone under 18.
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Locate judges. Every pie-eating contest needs impartial judges. A minimum of three judges is appropriate as it will keep the contest honest and allow someone to be a tie-breaker. For business events, a celebrity judge is best. For small, local events, someone from the organization will do just fine.
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Advertise the pie-eating contest. In order to have a successful contest, you must get the word out. If hosting a small event for family and friends, a telephone call, an e-mail or an invitation will suffice. If hosting for business purposes, more formal advertising methods are needed. Advertisements can come in many forms: ads in local papers, announcements to newsletter subscribers, posts on blogs, press releases, local radio announcements and even televised commercials.
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Host the contest. After all is said and done, it’s time to host the pie-eating contest, and the best way to do that is to simply have fun!
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Tips & Warnings
The best pies are the ones that require little chewing, such as a pie crust filled with whipped cream, pudding, jello or something soft like pumpkin.
The most entertaining pies are the ones that require a little chewing and tend to stick to the face a bit, like berry pies complete with whipped cream.
Showing last year’s winners in your media releases is a great way to show how much fun the contest can be.
Take lots of pictures and video footage during the contest. You can offer them for free later, or offer them to participants for a small fee.
Mystery pies should never be a part of a pie eating contest because allergies can be deadly.
