The 16th Annual Pepper Eating Contest
starts at 1:00 pm at the intersection of
​Broad & Hillsboro Street.

What would a hot sauce contest be without a Hot Chile Pepper eating contest? Can you take the heat? If so, sign up for a chance to win $1,000 — to the stomach that can take the heat of N.C. Hottest Chile Peppers. 

A chilies heat is based on Scoville Heat Units. In 1912, Wilbur Scoville, a chemist by profession, developed a method to measure the heat level of chile peppers. The test is named after him, known as the "Scoville Organoleptic Test.

The substance that makes a chile so hot is called Capsaicin. Pure Capsaicin is rated somewhere between 15,000,000-16,000,000 Scoville heat units. To put Scoville heat units (SU) in a better perspective, a jalapeno is rated 2,500-8,000 Scoville heat units compared to a Habanero which is rated 100,000-325,000 Scoville heat units.

            Think you can stomach the heat and want to enter the
​Pepper Eating Contest?
Here's how to enter:
1.  Fill out the Pepper Eating Waiver Form.
2.  Make Entry Fee Check payable to Bailey Farms ($20.00)
3.  Email the Signed form and Waiver to eatit@baileyfarmsinc.com and mail hard copies to
Bailey Farms
Attn:  Pepper Eating
107 Enterprise Ct.
Oxford NC 27565
NC Hot Sauce Contest Hot Pepper Eating Contest! Pepper selections per round may change. No tie, participants keep eating until one final contestant remains. 
Rules and Regulations
  • Round 1: Each contestant will start out with a Large Cayenne Pepper (Long Hots) (500-2,500 SU). You must eat all but the cap of the Cayenne in order to advance to the next round.
  • Round 2:  Red Fresno (4,000-5,500 SU). You must eat all but the cap of the Red Fresno in order to advance to the next round.
  • Round 3: Jalapeño (2,500-5,000 SU). You must eat all but the cap of the Jalapeno in order to advance to the next round.
  • Round 4: The Serrano Chile (5,000-10,000 SU). You must eat all but the cap of the Serrano in order to advance to the next round.
  • Round 5: The Orange Habanero (100,000-300,000 SU). You must eat the entire pepper except for the cap in order to finish the contest.
  • If there is not a winner after round 5 (five), the contest will continue with additional Habaneros until the last contestant is standing.
  • Contestants are disqualified if they cannot perform the instructed actions described above or if they raise their white flag at the eating table.
  • Contestants unable to keep the chilies down will be disqualified.
  • Each contestant is permitted only 1 bottle of water for the contest. No other food or drink is allowed on stage.