ELIGIBILITY:

All vendors (exhibitors and sponsors) are eligible to enter the Best of the Fest Pizza Contest and claim the title of, “The Best Pizza in Branson”. Employees and immediate family members of the owners and operators of the festival are not eligible to enter. The immediate families of the judging panel of this contest are not eligible to enter. Eligibility is, at all times, contingent upon the entrants’ ability to comply with all the rules, guidelines and conditions of this contest.

CATEGORIES:

Eligible Pizzas will all be included in one single category bearing in mind that they will wish to appeal to the largest demographic possible when considering the unknown make up of the judging panel. To be eligible, the pizza must have a dough crust made from any ground grain or gluten free ground product.

HOW TO ENTER:

Eligible entrants must return the provided entry form by April 15th, 2011. For a copy of the Entry Form, go to www.MoFoodFest.com and use the printer ready .PDF located on the CONTEST PAGE. You may have one delivered via snail mail by calling (417) 699-6199 and requesting the Entry Form.

Click here for entry form...

GUIDELINES:

1. Entrants may enter as many different Pizzas as they wish, each will be accompanied by the $25 entry fee and an individual entry form must accompany each entered pizza.

2. Entrants will bring their own pre-made dough, sauce, cheese and all toppings for two (2) minimum 14’ pizzas per entry.

3. All pizzas must be prepared using a dough crust made from any ground grain or gluten free ground product.

4. All pizzas must be served exactly as they are served in the commercial facility of the entrant.

5. All pizzas must be currently offered on the regular menu of the eligible entrants’ commercial facility, Oven testing may take place prior to the contest, please make arrangements for this with the Chateau Grille by calling (417) 334-1161. Entrant should bring all necessary tools including trays and peels.

6. All entrants will include a written description of their pizza along with a rough recipe of ingredients and their cooking instructions. Entrants will be make a presentation of the information to the judging panel during the judging.

7. The pizzas may include any combination of condiments and/or toppings.

8. All pizzas must be prepared in a Health Department approved commercial facility.

9. The Chateau kitchen is available to entrants who wish to prepare their pizzas on premise.

10. Two pizzas with complete presentations will be required for the judging panel. Entrants will select one pizza to be delivered to the judging panel, already cut into slices, the judges will select their own slice. The second pizza will be given to the attendees for sampling.

11. All eligible entrants will present their pizzas to the judging panel according to a schedule that will be determined by the producers, in their sole discretion, two (2) weeks prior to the date of the judging.

12. Verbal explanations or presentations are permitted while the judging takes place. However they must be no more than 3 minutes in length.

JUDGING:

The judging will take place on Friday and Saturday according to a staggered schedule to allow for individual delivery times. At the prescribed time for your entry, you will deliver your finished presentation to the judging panel before the allotted window of time expires. Entries arriving late will be accepted, but there will be a deduction from your overall score. Our judging panel will consist of one (1) paid professional from the food industry, at least one (1) professional chef from a non-competing restaurant, and one (1) to four (4) pizza lovers from in and around our community.

PRIZES:

The winner of the contest will be able to tout their Pizza as the “Best of the Fest”! Branson area restaurants will receive the title of “Branson’s Best Pizza”! An engraved trophy will be presented on the second day of the festival. A number of, sponsor endorsed, prizes will also accompany the title. Updates will be posted to www.mofoodfest.com as endorsements continue to confirm.

CONDITIONS:

Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these official rules. By entering the contest all entrants consent to the commercial use of their name, picture and likeness as well as the name, picture, logo, likeness and photo of the winning pizza, for the specific and limited purposes of future promotions, sales and marketing of this festival, by the producer of the Missouri Food & Wine Festival in perpetuity. By entering participants release and hold harmless the producers, their sponsors, their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents, the members of the judging panel and the host facility, from any and all damages of any kind resulting from or in connection with this contest or any prize won.