Wing Rock Fest: Manuel Antonio's New Tradition

by Ask Zipy on 02-27-2019 in Nightlife

Hi friends! You would not believe the incredible weekend that I had. I have seen some crazy things and watched some of my friends get set on fire! Well, not realllllly on fire, but I am pretty sure I saw flames coming out of their ears as they were eating some of the spiciest wings I have ever smelled in my life. (Sloths are vegetarians, you know, although I did have some of those delicious cauliflower wings!)

On February 23rd, 2019, Lee Mercer started a new tradition at Bar Jolly Roger in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica: an Annual Wing Rock Fest. Bar Jolly Roger hosted a day of fun for the community with a hot sauce competition with the creators vying for the bragging rights of the best hot sauce winner, a hot wing eating contest, and live music for the crowd all day and into the night. Guests were treated with the honor of trying all of the sauces and voting for their favorites with a cheeky score card. Man was my belly full and my mouth burning after sampling so many amazing sauces!

The competition was as fierce as the chile in that hot sauce! Each competitor brought their own unique flavor to the table, with sweet or savory options and varying degrees of spice. The colors of the sauces were a treat to my little slothy eyes as well: green, red, orange, and yellow. I felt like I was back in the rainforest!

Unfortunately there can only be one true winner of Wing Rock Fest. Be sure to find out who it is at the award ceremonies on Saturday, March 2nd at 7pm at Bar Jolly Roger. There will be surprises and raffles that you do not want to miss!

Check out the competition and voting fun here:

During the event, I had the special task of watching over the trophies at my table right next to PAWS, an animal welfare organization. I love playing with puppies! All day I got to give snuggles to my furry friends ready for adoption, hugs, and the excitement of the Wing Rock Fest guests sharing some love with them.

Fortunately there was some water at my table to cool off my mouth and my feet because I was dancing all day and night to the wonderful tunes of Live Wire, Ray and the Stingrays, and Ixnelo. I even got to run through the sprinklers with the little humans. It was awesome!

Finally came the moment I was so excited to see: the hot wing eating competition! The contestants came from as near as Quepos and as far as Canada and Trinidad to test their courage against this immense heat! Lee called upon the contestants to show their bravery. I puffed my fluffy little chest out with pride but ended up whimpering in the corner behind my mom after just smelling the first sauce. Buddy Taylor of Gator Hammock whipped up some fury.

I watched round after round, each more intense than the previous, as the contests dropped out, reaching for their glass of milk, wiping their faces, or just giving up. In between each round was a three minute “burn time.” We lost a few good men and women to this fire.

I watched in awe and anticipation as the competitors faces turned red, sweat pouring down, lips burning. At the end only Dan, Shelly, and Jimmy were left. Dan tried some meditation but just could not keep his zen. Only two remained. As the hottest wing came out, Dan, keeping his calm composure but sweating it out, and Shelly, dancing through the pain, looked at each other and at the wing and then finally . . . Shelly grabbed the milk. Well, not only did she grab it, she showered in it to cool the burn!

I needed to know how Jimmy kept his cool through all of the heat! He told me that the trick is that he did not allow the wings to touch his lips. He stuck the wings right in and cleaned the meat right off the bones. This gave him speed and less burn time! Wow! I never would have thought of that. I am challenging my rainforest friends next time and will surely win!

Believe it or not, Jimmy had never entered this type of contest before! He has been visiting Manuel Antonio fishing and enjoying a nice break when he found out about the event and entered the contest!