A local furniture store will host a food festival and cooking competition to raise money for Turning Point Domestic Violence Services.
Thompson Furniture and Mattress, 2440 Central Ave., will host the festival, called Start the Grill, Stop the Violence Hoosier Egg Fest, from noon to 3 p.m. Sept. 14.
Approximately 25 teams of backyard grillers, as well as teams from local restaurants TaColumbus, Special Dogs and More and Big JT’s BBQ will compete at the festival, which will be on the patio area around the store, said Spencer Thompson, the store’s owner.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets will allow people to sample as much food as they want, Thompson said.
Additionally, VIP tickets can be purchased for $20, which will allow people to enter at 11 a.m. — one hour before everyone else — and start sampling the food.
All proceeds will benefit Turning Point, Thompson said.
“We believe in what (Turning Point is) trying to accomplish,” he said. “Domestic violence is obviously a problem and requires a lot of training to solve it, and, therefore, they need money.”
The event is called “egg fest” because all the participants use a ceramic grill called the Big Green Egg, Thompson said.
“The 25 teams all get a $200 food budget and they create whatever they want with the Big Green Egg,” Thompson said. “Really anything you can imagine.”
The team that receives the most tips from patrons as well as the team chosen by a panel of judges to have the best dish will each win a Big Green Egg ceramic grill. The tips also will be donated to Turning Point.
Thompson said the furniture store holds two “egg fests” each year, one in the spring that benefits the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund and one in the fall for Turning Point.
The store has held four egg fests so far, raising a total of $48,400 for charity. More than 700 people attended the last egg fest, Thompson said.
This year’s event will be the second fundraiser the furniture store has held for Turning Point. The previous one raised just over $15,000 for the organization, Thompson said.
Additionally, there will be a silent auction and Seymour Brewing Company will be selling drinks at the festival.
“It’s fun, it’s all for charity,” Thompson said. “That’s all were trying to do, expose Turning Point to as many people as possible.”
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Start the Grill, Stop the Violence Hoosier Egg Fest tickets in advance cost $10.
Tickets on the day of the event cost $15.
VIP tickets, which allow people to sample the food an hour before everyone else cost $20.
All proceeds will go to Turning Point, said Spencer Thompson, owner of Thompson Furniture and Mattress, which is organizing the event.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at Thompson Furniture and Mattress, 2440 Central Ave.
Visit thompsonfurniture.net/egg-fest-2019.html for more information.
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