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On Saturday all of those things were present at the island's 15th annual Wingfest, an extravaganza of chicken wing cookery held at Shelter Cove Community Park.
More than 5,000 people attended this year's event, where 19 restaurants vied for honors in the People's Choice contest and a juried competition judged by local dignitaries such as Hilton Head Island Mayor Tom Peeples and Dana Millen, publisher of Pink Magazine. Proceeds from the eventbenefit the Island Recreation Center's scholarship fund. Last year the event raised more than $20,000. Figures from this year's event were available late Saturday.
There was a "fun zone" with bouncy castles for kids to play on, while adults swayed to the music of Deaz Guys, Mike Kavanaugh, and Sun Domingo.
Local favorite the Smokehouse was drawing compliments on its offerings, dubbed appropriately, "the Wingfest wing."
What did Smokehouse chef E.D. Monro plan to do this year to place in the competition?
"The same thing as last year," he said.
Twenty feet from the Smokehouse tent, Mary Ann Peeples, the mayor's wife, emerged from the blind judging of this year's wings. She groaned. She'd eaten 20 wings, but she didn't regret it.
"This is one of my visions of paradise," she said, laughing.
Mayor Peeples offered his criteria for wing judging.
"One thing, is presentation. The second, is it cooked well enough? Third, is it served hot?"
He was happy with both the event and the turnout.
"I am just so pleased that restaurants donate their efforts to make this community event," Peeples said.
"What's more -- It's been a long, wet, winter.
"This," he said, gesturing to the well-fed crowd, "is a great opportunity to break that cycle."
