HOUSTON — A three-day spring festival kicked off at the University of Houston on Thursday.
Students worked extra hard to prepare for what they call Frontier Fiesta, which has happened annually for 85 years.
"Frontier Fiesta is actually the oldest and longest-standing program tradition at the University of Houston," explained Baile Payne, a junior at the university and chair of the Frontier Fiesta Association.
It's a tradition dating back to the late 30s, starting as a gathering completely run and funded by students. It's an event that showcases the diverse talents of UH's student body. Proceeds go towards scholarships for future students.
"It’s happening during finals season right now so it’s a really great way for students to just come out and decompress as well as super fun for the Houston community," Payne said. "We have people, our alumni come back every year. That’s who does the cookoff."
The cook-off is the largest source of community participation at Frontier Fiesta, according to the website. Over 40 teams from alumni associations and outside organizations compete in the six categories of pinto beans, beef brisket, chicken, chili, fajitas and pork ribs.
There are also performances throughout the three-day festival, some from students, others from big-name celebrities.
"We do have Paul Wall performing tomorrow night so we’re pretty excited about that," Payne said. "And then we have our carnival booths as well, which are registered student organizations run and they’re able to raise money for their organizations through that."
Admission to the event, which runs through Saturday, April 20, is free and runs from 5 p.m. to midnight.