Celebration of a fiery fascination

As the weekend weather skidded into a humid haze, the pepperheads gathered to revel in the pain of the burn.

About 2,500 people attended the ninth annual I Like It Hot! Festival on Saturday and Sunday at Largo's Minnreg Hall. With only water and beer to rescue their scorched tongues, they dragged remnants of chips through the saucy concoctions, batting their eyes and scrunching their noses while surveying the flavors, heat and originality.

The crowd of pepperheads, as many have come to refer to themselves, was catered to by 52 vendors who sold hot and spicy products of all kinds. Attendance this year fell short of the record 3,000 in 2008, said Reyna Martin, of St. Petersburg, one of the event's coordinators.

"These are chiliheads, hot and spicy, pepper-head connoisseurs. All these people want to do is have a good time," Martin said. "The more hot and spicy things they eat, the higher their endorphin levels are, it brings on some sort of high, the euphoria of happiness and fun. It makes you feel a little more on top of the world."

Festivities included three live rock bands, and amateur hot sauce and salsa contests. There also was a pepper-eating contest, in which Noah Pransky of Tampa blurred the line between pleasure and pain by eating 12 ounces of Tahiti Joe's roasted jalapeno peppers sprinkled with habanero dust in less than a minute.

Douglas R. Clifford, Times staff writer