One of the area’s tastiest events of the year will be Oct 5 outside of the Marion County Lake hall.

The annual Chili Cookoff attracts around 500 taste-testers, who can pay $5 for a kit allowing them to sample a wide variety of chili.

Lake Superintendent Isaac Hett said around 18 different chili recipes will be available to try this year.

A bake sale and a car show will take place at the same time as the cook-off. Attendees help determine the best chili and the best vehicle at the event by distributing voting tokens provided at the start of the day.

The cook-off, bake sale, and car show will last from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Afterward, attendees can enjoy the weather and perhaps work off a few calories with a cornhole tournament that will last until 5 p.m.

“It’s a fun day out here at the lake,” Hett said. “It’s kind of our last hurrah with fall coming on.”