All-consuming
You’ll have to eat eight times this much to take home the Dos Coyotes taco trophy.
Anyone who attended Sacramento’s eighth annual Peep Off on April 17 witnessed the dangers of competitive overeating in the name of holiday fun. At the start of the event, dozens of contestants gathered around a knee-high pile of Marshmallow Peeps packages, preparing to eat as many as they could in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, topping barbecued burgers and cheap beer with tremendous quantities of neon-hued marshmallow bunnies left some competitors vomiting pastel-colored sludge in the alley behind the event. Add to that unsettling display the Peeps food fight and drive-by Peeping that consumed the block of 19th and N streets for the better part of an hour, and it becomes clear that Easter-themed eating contests are a harrowing way to celebrate.
Whether the same holds true for Cinco de Mayo fiestas remains to be seen. Dos Coyotes welcomes people with boundless stomachs to its annual Cinco de Mayo Taco Eating Contest on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. Last year’s winner consumed 16 tacos in five minutes. A $20 registration fee buys a chance to beat that record and win $265 in Mexican food plus the coveted taco trophy. The tacos go down (and hopefully won’t come back up) at 2191 Cowell Boulevard in Davis. Call (530) 758-1400 for information.
Those who’d like to celebrate Mexican culture without stretching their esophagus might try the Cinco de Mayo Safety Day Fiesta this Sunday. Live Latino music and dancing will play out on four stages, while vendors sell traditional Mexican arts, crafts and food. Admission is free from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Placer County Fairgrounds, 800 All American City Boulevard in Roseville. Call (916) 782-2040 for information.
You also can visit the new exhibit Chicana Painters Working in Community, which features murals by activist art collectives Co-Madres Artistas and Mujeres Muralistas. The paintings will be up from May 3 through August 31 at the University Library at California State University, Sacramento. Admission is free and, unlike at the previously described events, food of any kind is discouraged.
