The Biggest Little City Wing Fest Celebrates Its 9th Annual Year

The Biggest Little City Wing Fest celebrated its 9th annual event down along THE ROW in downtown Reno.

The community gathered for its second and final day for award presentations, live music, and of course, chicken wings.

"The real stars of the show are 21 wing vendors from all over Northern Nevada and some from even farther than that. Each one of them are bringing their amazing style of wings," said Ken Ostempowski, General Manger for THE ROW. "Some of them are producing three wings some are producing 20 wings so you can have over 50 styles of wings today."

Over 20,000 pounds of chicken wings were expected to be served over the course of the two-day long festival.

Each of the vendors competed for various awards such as people's choice, celebrities' choice, best spicy wing, and more.

The judges take a lot into account when deciding who has the best wing.

"Well, it's the flavor, texture and how they come off the bone and their skin and how they're cooked in a way," said Bob Dewees, Judge for the Wing Fest.

For some of the vendors who have won awards in the past.

They know winning the awards takes a lot of hard work.

While the two days at the fest promises a lot of working hours.

They say it's prep beforehand, that's even more crucial.

"It takes months of planning," said Joshua Polon, Owner of Joshua Lee's Pit You need to get your banners prepared. You need to have all of your equipment. You need to make all your sauces. You need to make all of your rubs. You have to get all of your employees ready to go. You have to get everything organized."

"For me it's been pretty easy having the food truck, but there's a lot of work that goes into it," said Jay Slater, Owner of Slater Ding-A-Wing. "You're hauling everything in and out, the fryers and everything else. It's a lot of work it's definitely not a one-man team that's for sure."

The wing fest does more than serving chicken wings and providing a great time for families.

"So, the greatest thing about this is all the different incremental taxes that go ultimately out to state through sales tax and entertainment tax and of course all the public service that come down here we're funding that to help make the city even stronger and better to give back to the people of Reno," Ostempowski said.

If you didn't get the chance to go this year, you'll have to wait until the festival comes back next to get your chance to eat as many chicken wings as your stomach can handle.