FOR MORE INFORMATION

                                                                  Brian Kahle: (716) 479-1055 Festival Media Relations

                                                                  Drew Cerza: (716) 479-6545 Festival Founder

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Buffalo Wing Fest Sets Attendance Record!

Crowds devour 40 tons of Chicken Wings!

 

More people than ever “flocked” to the 2009 NATIONAL BUFFALO WING FESTIVAL in Buffalo, NY, where the 8th annual Labor Day weekend celebration filled Buffalo’s Coca-Cola Field with the sights and sounds of a festival crowd and smells of chicken wings in the fryers.

 

Official attendance for the two day event totaled some 92,000, which compares to 78,000 last year.  In addition, Saturday set a single day attendance record of 52,000 attendees.

 

Festival surveys found people came from 49 states and 31 countries to enjoy the many contests and other festivities and, of course, eat chicken wings. Eat chicken wings they did, too…devouring a festival record 40 tons. Ironically, the only state not represented at the Wing Fest was Arkansas, which is the home of Tyson Chicken.

 

Of course, many of the nation’s top competitive eaters consumed more than their share, as they took part in the U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championships.  The diminutive Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, Virginia again proved again not only to be the crowd favorite but also America’s chicken wing eating champ.

 

Sonya finished in 1st Place, by eating 169 chicken wings (3.38 pounds of wing meat) in 12 minutes.  This was the third time she has won the event in recent years.  After winning that Contest on Saturday, Thomas returned on Sunday to win the Buffalo Buffet Bowl.  Beating all competitors, she ate four pounds of Buffalo-style foods, including Beef on Weck, Pizza, Chicken Wings, and Chicken Fingers, in 4 minutes and 51 seconds.

 

Other contest winners include the following:

 

Amateur Wing Eating Contest:
  David Solomon of Orlando, Florida
Miss Buffalo Wing: 
  Nina Pierino, 18, of Chaffee, NY
Buffalo Blue Cheese Bowl:
  Andrew Padilla of the Bronx (47 wings)
Amateur Traditional Sauce-off:
  Adam Fries of Williamsville, NY
Amateur Creative Sauce-off:
Aaron Travis of Endwell, NY
XXX Atomic Wing Eating Contest:
Vince Wenger, Schenectady, NY

Celebrity Wing Cook-off:


Chef Kevin Roberts
Baby Wing Competition:

(Under 2) Christian Stewart, West Seneca, NY


(2 and older)  Samuel Breece, Charlotte, North Carolina
.5k Running of the Chickens: 
(Tie) Jake Johnson of Gunnersville, NY, and


Walter Potocki of Lockport, NY



 

Festival founder and “WING KING” Drew Cerza says he is overwhelmed with the world’s excitement over this unique festival and amazed that this year’s attendees ate 40 tons of wings.  He adds, “That’s a lot of angry chickens”.

 

To learn more, visit www.BuffaloWing.com.