When: late August

Where: Waterloo Park at 12th and Trinity in Austin, Texas.

Spice up the dog days of summer with 15,000 fellow foodies at a held every year since 1990 at Austin's Waterloo Park. A free event, if the tongue-scorching sauces at this fiery festival don't bring you to tears, the generous nature of its sponsors will. A donation of three non-perishable food items, which will go to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, allows visitors to watch as over 350 creatively-prepared condiments from area restaurants and hot sauce-savvy individuals will vie for first place in the red, green, special variety and pico de gallo categories.

If sampling salsas inspires you to test your culinary skills, you can purchase fresh produce for your own concoctions, pepper your cookbook collection with a hot sauce-themed gastronomical guidebook, or buy Tabasco-motifed memorabilia at the many vendor booths, then top off your day with smoking sounds from some of the hottest bands in the Live Music Capital of the World.

For more information:

• visit www.austinchronicle.com/hotsauce