Wing Fest: 'World's biggest chicken wing festival' in Sheffield was sizzling success for city

The drum-and-flats bonanza at Neepsend’s Peddler Market sold out across all three days on October 18-20, with guests devouring an estimated 100,000 wings in that time.

I skipped lunch on Friday with a plan to go with friends that evening and eat like a viking. I wouldn’t be doing the Lava Wings Challenge though - a contest to eat eight of Europe’s Hottest Chicken Wings. I already tried my hand at it, and you can see the searing pain it caused me here.

Wing Fest found fame in America, and so Peddlar Market was dressed up with some faux-Texan bourbon flair - axe throwing, barrels, hay bales, a whiskey stall, and a stage used for bluegrass acoustic when they weren’t playing club music.

Aattendees also got a Wing Fest trucker hat as part of their £20 ticket. I half expected a line dancing class.

The Wing Fest formula is to draw nine or so vendors for the weekend from chicken wing aficionados out to prove their deep frying and sauce slathering method is the best.

Sheffield’s offering on the chopping block were Wingies UK, Honey Buns, Ginger Wings, Hope You’re Hungry, Bad Boy Wings, Dirty Chicken UK, Kiki’s Fried Chicken, Eat The Bird and the city’s own Smashed & Pulled.

Have you ever had a South Asian curry chicken wing? Or a Korean wing with kimchi? Or even one dipped and fried in pancake waffle batter with a cherry sauce? Because all three of them are banging ideas. One team served buffalo wings with a tiny side of Mr Whippy ice cream.

My friend Steve was a fool and got eight wings from one vendor right at the start, and was full for the rest of the night. Amateur.

With prices at around £1.50-£2 per drum/flat, the game at Wing Fest was clearly to sample one of each from all nine vendors. Indeed, attendees were given their own score cards on entry and were invited to scan QRs codes as they voted for their favourite wing, with Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice up for grabs.

And, alongside their own creations, every trader also served their own take on the classic buffalo wing, just to even out the competition.

The evening’s clear winner - the ‘Hawk Tuah and Spit on That Wing’ by Ginger Wings.

Frankly, the description is indecipherable to me.

‘Rootin tootin Texan bourbon smoked brisket burnt ends spiced caramel & Alabama white sauce, crushed corn kernels, pickled watermelon with toasted sesame seeds.’

Then, when it’s served up, a lady in a stetson mists it with a bottle of something (probably sugar water) with a verbal “Hawk Tuah.”

A smash hit balance between salty and sweet, tender and crunchy, mellow and sharp. They were the second set of wings we tried but we all agreed we would go back for more before we left, and it was the clear winner of Sheffield Wing Fest among me and my three friends, as well as the winner of the People’s Choice award come Sunday. Well earned.

If Wing Fest returns to Sheffield, what they need is more space - not to dance, but to eat. There were precious few spots to perch and precisely zero places to sit so you could enjoy your wings with two hands.

Instead there were a handful of barrels to gather around and prop an elbow.

No doubt the team wants to encourage the crowd to mill about and have a dance, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one dying for a picnic table before the night was out.