The Mac-N-Cheese Throwdown is a World Food Championships event.
It is held at the annual Holy Cross Wine & Cheese Festival. In honor of Kelly's love for wine and cheese, this competition brings cheese to the forefront, with five professional chefs putting their best Mac-N-Cheese forward for judging. This one-of-a-kind experience allows festival participants a chance to participate as judges, and sends one deserving chef to the World Food Championships. A link to tickets is coming soon.
To enquire about registration as a chef: contact [email protected].
Address:
Sturm Esplanade
435 Sturm Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46201
Date & TIme:
July 26, 2025, from 3:30 - 6:30 PM
OVERVIEW, RULES, & CHEF INFO
NUMBER OF EVENT GUESTS: 104 competition participants/2000 festival participants
CONTACT INFO FOR QUESTIONS:
Tommy Reddicks:
[email protected]
NUMBER OF CHEF COMPETITORS, CHEF EXPECTATIONS, PRIZES, SWAG, AND CASH:
A maximum of eight chefs will be accepted to compete. In order to be selected for the competition, the chef must be willing to serve one display plate and 104, 3oz samples for judges. Chefs may use any ingredients they choose, but will receive a bonus execution point if they can prove that they used the sponsor's cheese (Tulip Tree) in their recipe. The top two chefs will receive prizes (listed below). All chefs receive a SWAG bag with gift certificates and event tickets. All chefs will receive $100 upon arrival to offset their ingredient cost.
NUMBER OF COMPETITION PARTICIPANTS:
This event is an extension of the Holy Cross Wine and Cheese Festival where four expert judges and 100 private participants will pay an extra fee to taste the entries and receive a “People’s Choice” vote. The People’s Choice vote will count towards the vote used to calculate the winners.
CHEF REGISTRATION: Click Here to Register as a Competing Chef
Because this is a World Food Championship qualifying competition, the registration fee is $200 (waived for Indiana chefs). Registration priority is based on a first come first served basis, with confirmed registration payment, and then completed email applications (time and date stamped) determining the order of entry. Venmo or Paypal arrangements must be made with the event host: [email protected].
OFFICIAL RULES:
What constitutes a legal “Mac-N-Cheese?”
For the purposes of this competition, the following two definitions apply:
1) Cheese Definition: Any cheese or cheese product or combination thereof.
2) Mac Definition: Any form or variety of pasta
3) Chefs that use the sponsored (Tulip Tree) cheese to augment their dish will receive a bonus point in execution. Use of this cheese is not mandatory.
The Mac-n-Cheese can be a hot or cold mixture of cheese(s) and pasta(s). The entry can contain additional items such as condiments, vegetables, and proteins as long as the cheese and pasta requirements are met.
After meeting the technical definition of a Mac-N-Cheese, chef participants must consider execution, appearance, and taste. Appearance and taste can be very creative components for competitors, but execution is critical. Chef participants should consider the following three points of execution as they develop their Mac-N-Cheese:
What must be prepared for judging?
Each chef must prepare a whole plate as a standout presentation for the entry’s evaluation at their station (Appearance), while also preparing a minimum of 104, three-ounce samples (approximately 8 quarts) for tasting over the course of the 60-minute-long competition. There is no size limit for a Mac-N-Cheese plate for appearance. Chefs should consider the appropriate ingredient inclusion in a 3 oz bite for a judging participant to fully appreciate the flavor of the entry (Taste) and to deliver the desired combination of flavors and textures (Execution).
Additionally, the following rules apply:
THE COMPETITION:
Chefs should be prepared to create one display dish and serve a minimum of 104, 3 oz samples within 60 minutes. Beginning at 5 PM, samples should be prepared for the panel of 4 expert judges and 100 guests. Chefs have 60-minutes to serve all guests and judges.
AWARDS
Tallying Results for People’s Choice:
At the end of the hour, all tickets will be counted, and a People’s Choice "final four" ranking will be handed off to the panel of expert judges. At the same time, the People's Choice Award winner will be determined and announced from the participating chef with the most tickets. In the event of a People’s Choice tie, the expert judge’s rank of scores will be used to break the tie. The winner of the People’s Choice Award may be awarded an additional cash prize (at the discretion of the Kelly's Fund) acknowledging the accomplishment.
Final Judge’s Awards:
The panel of expert judges will use the E.A.T. methodology (from the World Food Championships) to determine their winner and 2nd place runner up. The People’s Choice rankings will determine the top four chefs, and the panel of expert judges will determine the order of the top four chefs using the E.A.T. methodology. The people's choice ranking will serve as the first tiebreaker in the final judge’s awards (if a tiebreaker is needed).
PRIZES
Grand Prize
In partnership with the World Food Championships, the judge’s winner of the Throwdown will receive a Golden Ticket (Valued at $1,000) which is an official entry into the World Food Championships. The Grand Prize Winner also receives the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag. The Golden Ticket will allow for registration into one specific competition category in the World Food Championships. The category of the ticket may not be related to the event. All additional fees and submission requirements for the World Food Championships are the responsibility of the winning chef.
2nd Place
2nd Place will be awarded a custom stainless Japanese Style Petty knife from Ash Blades plus the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag.
All competing chefs will receive $100 to assist with food costs along with the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag.
ARRIVAL & SERVICE:
Chefs can arrive any time after 2:30 PM to prep. Service begins at 5 PM and concludes by 6 PM. Event staff will meet arriving chefs and show them to their space. For early arrivals, vehicles can be parked near the event space for load-in, but will need to be moved to a permanent parking sport by 3:40 PM. Chefs arriving after 3:40 PM will need to cart their supplies in from nearby neighborhood parking.
AWARDS: Awards will be announced at 6:30 PM.
PARKING: Chefs can park along Arsenal or State Street nearby. Chef should allow ample time for loading and unloading due to heavy foot traffic during the event.
EQUIPMENT: Every chef will have a 8’ table. Power can be requested but may not be available - so chefs should consider arriving with a warm product in an insulated container. Chefs must bring their own pots, pans, knives, trays, ladles, ingredients, coolers, etc.
PLATES: Recyclable plates and ticket-taking systems will be available for chefs to accommodate all guests.
PREP: As a ticketed event in a public festival, chefs may prep onsite or offsite, but will need to pass a health inspection regarding food temperature.
PERMIT: Chefs will need to work with the festival to procure a health permit (at the Festival's cost). The competition will happen outdoors under a tent.
EVENT LAYOUT: This is an outdoor event held on the Sturm Esplanade between Arsenal and State on Sturm Avenue near Arsenal Tech High School. This competition will take place in a 20x40 tent centrally located within the festival. For this reason, no live fire is allowed during prep or service.
DISCLAIMERS
Judge’s winners are solely responsible for all expenses, costs or fees associated with transportation and acceptance and/or use of the prize not specified herein as being awarded, including without limitation, any and all taxes (if any). Winner is not a recipient of a prize until s/he has been verified as the Winner by the judges. Upon fulfilling prize, the Festival Committee will be deemed to have awarded the prize to the Winner and such Winner assumes full responsibility for the prize. All annual prize details are at the Festival Committee’s sole discretion.
Entrants acknowledge that transportation, if applicable, is not included in the prize and that some events are beyond the control of the Festival Committee and are subject to being rescheduled, modified, or cancelled. In that event, the Festival Committee reserves the right to, at its discretion, reschedule the Competition, entry and/or end dates, modify the entry procedures, cancel the Competition, or cancel the awarding of Golden Ticket(s). Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash.
GENERAL CONDITIONS: Winning constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use Winner’s name, images, hometown, likeness, prize won, and photograph (all at the Festival Committee’s discretion) for future advertising, publicity in any and all media now or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission. Competition Parties and their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives, and employees (collectively, “Released Parties”) are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete, or delayed Entries; all of which will be void. Released Parties are also not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of cooking equipment, electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any Entry to be received by the Festival Committee on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the internet or the website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled, or misdirected communications which may limit a contestant’s ability to participate in this Competition. Released Parties are not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human, or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Competition, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the Competition, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Competition-related materials. Mass entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified. The Festival Committee reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Competition in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Competition in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Competition and, if terminated, at the Festival Committee’s discretion, determine the Winner using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of Entry will be deemed to be the contestant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses. The Festival Committee reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void his/her Entries)) it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of this Competition or website, intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other contestant, the Festival Committee, or any of its representatives or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Official Rules. CAUTION: Any attempt by a contestant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operations of the Competition is a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, the Festival Committee reserves the right to seek damages from any such contestant to the fullest extent permitted by the law and to disqualify such contestant from the Competition.
ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS: By submitting an Entry, Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Festival Committee may obtain many submissions under this Competition and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Competition and/or other competitions staged and/or sponsored by the Festival Committee, and waive any and all claims contestant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any composition, design, video and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Festival Committee (or its respective designees) may be similar to his/her Entry. Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Festival Committee does not have now, nor shall any of them have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to contestant’s Entry.
MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS: Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Competition. The Festival Committee reserves the right to permanently disqualify any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules. Competition subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law.
RELEASES: By entering in this Competition, contestants agree to the Festival Committee’s use of their personal information for both online and offline direct marketing purposes.
ARBITRATION & CHOICE OF LAW: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Competition, Contestant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Competition, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will contestant be permitted to obtain awards for, and contestant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Competition), and contestant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of contestants and the Festival Committee in connection with this Competition, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of Indiana, USA without regard to Indiana choice of law rules.
It is held at the annual Holy Cross Wine & Cheese Festival. In honor of Kelly's love for wine and cheese, this competition brings cheese to the forefront, with five professional chefs putting their best Mac-N-Cheese forward for judging. This one-of-a-kind experience allows festival participants a chance to participate as judges, and sends one deserving chef to the World Food Championships. A link to tickets is coming soon.
To enquire about registration as a chef: contact [email protected].
Address:
Sturm Esplanade
435 Sturm Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46201
Date & TIme:
July 26, 2025, from 3:30 - 6:30 PM
OVERVIEW, RULES, & CHEF INFO
NUMBER OF EVENT GUESTS: 104 competition participants/2000 festival participants
CONTACT INFO FOR QUESTIONS:
Tommy Reddicks:
[email protected]
NUMBER OF CHEF COMPETITORS, CHEF EXPECTATIONS, PRIZES, SWAG, AND CASH:
A maximum of eight chefs will be accepted to compete. In order to be selected for the competition, the chef must be willing to serve one display plate and 104, 3oz samples for judges. Chefs may use any ingredients they choose, but will receive a bonus execution point if they can prove that they used the sponsor's cheese (Tulip Tree) in their recipe. The top two chefs will receive prizes (listed below). All chefs receive a SWAG bag with gift certificates and event tickets. All chefs will receive $100 upon arrival to offset their ingredient cost.
NUMBER OF COMPETITION PARTICIPANTS:
This event is an extension of the Holy Cross Wine and Cheese Festival where four expert judges and 100 private participants will pay an extra fee to taste the entries and receive a “People’s Choice” vote. The People’s Choice vote will count towards the vote used to calculate the winners.
CHEF REGISTRATION: Click Here to Register as a Competing Chef
Because this is a World Food Championship qualifying competition, the registration fee is $200 (waived for Indiana chefs). Registration priority is based on a first come first served basis, with confirmed registration payment, and then completed email applications (time and date stamped) determining the order of entry. Venmo or Paypal arrangements must be made with the event host: [email protected].
OFFICIAL RULES:
What constitutes a legal “Mac-N-Cheese?”
For the purposes of this competition, the following two definitions apply:
1) Cheese Definition: Any cheese or cheese product or combination thereof.
2) Mac Definition: Any form or variety of pasta
3) Chefs that use the sponsored (Tulip Tree) cheese to augment their dish will receive a bonus point in execution. Use of this cheese is not mandatory.
The Mac-n-Cheese can be a hot or cold mixture of cheese(s) and pasta(s). The entry can contain additional items such as condiments, vegetables, and proteins as long as the cheese and pasta requirements are met.
After meeting the technical definition of a Mac-N-Cheese, chef participants must consider execution, appearance, and taste. Appearance and taste can be very creative components for competitors, but execution is critical. Chef participants should consider the following three points of execution as they develop their Mac-N-Cheese:
- The importance of cheese:
- As a component of the annual Holy Cross Wine & Cheese festival, the emphasis on “cheese” will be an important evaluative component in the execution portion of the scores for participating chefs. Entries that abide by minimum requirements, while technically legal, may suffer from low execution scores. For example, if a single slice of cheese is used alongside four types of pasta and three vegetables, the execution score of a “Mac-N-Cheese” dish will be lower. This type of dish is more of a “pasta with a slice of cheese” instead of a “Mac-N-Cheese”. To put it bluntly, judges and participants should have no doubt that the cheese is the star component of the entry.
- The importance of maintaining the classic experience.
- A perfectly cooked al dente pasta (to the tooth), when blended with a creamy cheese component create the defining element of a classic Mac-N-Cheese. While judges may vary in their definition of “perfectly al dente” and “creamy", these elements are critical to the success of all competition entries.
- An elevated combination of flavors.
- It’s hard to beat a basic Mac-N-Cheese, but additional flavors should be used to enhance this classic combo to elevate it to higher levels of culinary perfection. Any additional combination of ingredients must work to add harmony and complexity to the dish without downgrading the star component (cheese).
- The use of any bonus ingredients (like sponsor cheeses).
What must be prepared for judging?
Each chef must prepare a whole plate as a standout presentation for the entry’s evaluation at their station (Appearance), while also preparing a minimum of 104, three-ounce samples (approximately 8 quarts) for tasting over the course of the 60-minute-long competition. There is no size limit for a Mac-N-Cheese plate for appearance. Chefs should consider the appropriate ingredient inclusion in a 3 oz bite for a judging participant to fully appreciate the flavor of the entry (Taste) and to deliver the desired combination of flavors and textures (Execution).
Additionally, the following rules apply:
- Chefs not abiding by the rules will lose their eligibility for awards.
- Participating chefs must submit the following information prior to June 26, 2025 to be eligible for the competition.
- a recent photo
- their current restaurant or status
- the title and description of their Mac-N-Cheese
THE COMPETITION:
Chefs should be prepared to create one display dish and serve a minimum of 104, 3 oz samples within 60 minutes. Beginning at 5 PM, samples should be prepared for the panel of 4 expert judges and 100 guests. Chefs have 60-minutes to serve all guests and judges.
AWARDS
Tallying Results for People’s Choice:
At the end of the hour, all tickets will be counted, and a People’s Choice "final four" ranking will be handed off to the panel of expert judges. At the same time, the People's Choice Award winner will be determined and announced from the participating chef with the most tickets. In the event of a People’s Choice tie, the expert judge’s rank of scores will be used to break the tie. The winner of the People’s Choice Award may be awarded an additional cash prize (at the discretion of the Kelly's Fund) acknowledging the accomplishment.
Final Judge’s Awards:
The panel of expert judges will use the E.A.T. methodology (from the World Food Championships) to determine their winner and 2nd place runner up. The People’s Choice rankings will determine the top four chefs, and the panel of expert judges will determine the order of the top four chefs using the E.A.T. methodology. The people's choice ranking will serve as the first tiebreaker in the final judge’s awards (if a tiebreaker is needed).
PRIZES
Grand Prize
In partnership with the World Food Championships, the judge’s winner of the Throwdown will receive a Golden Ticket (Valued at $1,000) which is an official entry into the World Food Championships. The Grand Prize Winner also receives the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag. The Golden Ticket will allow for registration into one specific competition category in the World Food Championships. The category of the ticket may not be related to the event. All additional fees and submission requirements for the World Food Championships are the responsibility of the winning chef.
2nd Place
2nd Place will be awarded a custom stainless Japanese Style Petty knife from Ash Blades plus the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag.
All competing chefs will receive $100 to assist with food costs along with the festival SWAG Bag containing local gift certificates, festival tickets, and festival swag.
ARRIVAL & SERVICE:
Chefs can arrive any time after 2:30 PM to prep. Service begins at 5 PM and concludes by 6 PM. Event staff will meet arriving chefs and show them to their space. For early arrivals, vehicles can be parked near the event space for load-in, but will need to be moved to a permanent parking sport by 3:40 PM. Chefs arriving after 3:40 PM will need to cart their supplies in from nearby neighborhood parking.
AWARDS: Awards will be announced at 6:30 PM.
PARKING: Chefs can park along Arsenal or State Street nearby. Chef should allow ample time for loading and unloading due to heavy foot traffic during the event.
EQUIPMENT: Every chef will have a 8’ table. Power can be requested but may not be available - so chefs should consider arriving with a warm product in an insulated container. Chefs must bring their own pots, pans, knives, trays, ladles, ingredients, coolers, etc.
PLATES: Recyclable plates and ticket-taking systems will be available for chefs to accommodate all guests.
PREP: As a ticketed event in a public festival, chefs may prep onsite or offsite, but will need to pass a health inspection regarding food temperature.
PERMIT: Chefs will need to work with the festival to procure a health permit (at the Festival's cost). The competition will happen outdoors under a tent.
EVENT LAYOUT: This is an outdoor event held on the Sturm Esplanade between Arsenal and State on Sturm Avenue near Arsenal Tech High School. This competition will take place in a 20x40 tent centrally located within the festival. For this reason, no live fire is allowed during prep or service.
DISCLAIMERS
Judge’s winners are solely responsible for all expenses, costs or fees associated with transportation and acceptance and/or use of the prize not specified herein as being awarded, including without limitation, any and all taxes (if any). Winner is not a recipient of a prize until s/he has been verified as the Winner by the judges. Upon fulfilling prize, the Festival Committee will be deemed to have awarded the prize to the Winner and such Winner assumes full responsibility for the prize. All annual prize details are at the Festival Committee’s sole discretion.
Entrants acknowledge that transportation, if applicable, is not included in the prize and that some events are beyond the control of the Festival Committee and are subject to being rescheduled, modified, or cancelled. In that event, the Festival Committee reserves the right to, at its discretion, reschedule the Competition, entry and/or end dates, modify the entry procedures, cancel the Competition, or cancel the awarding of Golden Ticket(s). Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash.
GENERAL CONDITIONS: Winning constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use Winner’s name, images, hometown, likeness, prize won, and photograph (all at the Festival Committee’s discretion) for future advertising, publicity in any and all media now or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission. Competition Parties and their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives, and employees (collectively, “Released Parties”) are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete, or delayed Entries; all of which will be void. Released Parties are also not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of cooking equipment, electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any Entry to be received by the Festival Committee on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the internet or the website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled, or misdirected communications which may limit a contestant’s ability to participate in this Competition. Released Parties are not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human, or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Competition, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the Competition, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Competition-related materials. Mass entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified. The Festival Committee reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Competition in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Competition in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Competition and, if terminated, at the Festival Committee’s discretion, determine the Winner using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of Entry will be deemed to be the contestant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses. The Festival Committee reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void his/her Entries)) it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of this Competition or website, intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other contestant, the Festival Committee, or any of its representatives or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Official Rules. CAUTION: Any attempt by a contestant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operations of the Competition is a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, the Festival Committee reserves the right to seek damages from any such contestant to the fullest extent permitted by the law and to disqualify such contestant from the Competition.
ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS: By submitting an Entry, Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Festival Committee may obtain many submissions under this Competition and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Competition and/or other competitions staged and/or sponsored by the Festival Committee, and waive any and all claims contestant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any composition, design, video and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Festival Committee (or its respective designees) may be similar to his/her Entry. Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Festival Committee does not have now, nor shall any of them have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to contestant’s Entry.
MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS: Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Competition. The Festival Committee reserves the right to permanently disqualify any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules. Competition subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law.
RELEASES: By entering in this Competition, contestants agree to the Festival Committee’s use of their personal information for both online and offline direct marketing purposes.
ARBITRATION & CHOICE OF LAW: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Competition, Contestant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Competition, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will contestant be permitted to obtain awards for, and contestant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Competition), and contestant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of contestants and the Festival Committee in connection with this Competition, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of Indiana, USA without regard to Indiana choice of law rules.