Shipshewana Ice Festival Wing Competition

We've been making our way to Shipshewana, Indiana in the winter for several years to be there for the annual Ice Festival. A chili cook-off has always been part of the festival, but they added a wing competition in recent years, too.

If you've never been to Shipshewana, it's a small community in northern Indiana Amish Country that is full of quaint shops, many of which have Amish-made food or other products or are owned by Amish families. It has a big Amish buffet restaurant, The Blue Gate Restaurant, where you can fill up on all kinds of Amish comfort food. There's two theaters offering plays and other entertainment, big name entertainment, tribute bands, comedians and more. A couple of "malls" have a variety of shops under one roof, some being a music store, a fabric shop, candy stores, a toy store, tea and coffee shop, pretzel cafe and more.

Besides those "malls," there are several other small independent businesses lining the downtown area. One is Smokehouse Grill & Supply is one of these specialty shop you'll find downtown and it's where the Icy Spicy Wing Competition and Chili Cook-Off take place.

This year there were 8 different sauces to try. As you enter, you get a plate of grilled wings and you make your way around to each table for the sample of their sauce. Each one was quite different and they ran the gamut from mild to sweet to those with a little kick. One had a kick at the start that mellowed quickly. Another started off sweet and you finished with a bit of heat.

A newcomer to the competition this year was Brian Tomlonson. Who was happy to share his two creations. His "Tropical Island" had a nice blend of sweet and heat without being over the top. I was hoping contestants might have some bottles available for purchase, but it's more of a friendly competition among hobby cooks or those who work at local businesses. I would have bought bottles of probably all but one that I tried.

Aside from the Tropical Island and the winning recipe (scroll down for more), there was a Creamy Buffalo that I really liked that was made by a local Amish family.

This look at al the samples hints at the scope of flavors that were entered.

Each visitor got 3 tickets and we dropped them in a box on the table of the entries we liked best. It was a tough competition and I had to try some a second time to make up my mind.



Wings and drums were grilled on site .

I chatted with Justin Contrearas, who I remembered from last year. I was fond of his Mexican-Style Sweet BBQ sauce he called "El Jefe" (translation: The Boss) when trying it last year and it earned him a 1st place trophy. I stayed until the end to find out who the winner was - and Contrearas was a repeat winner.

WFRN-FM radio out of Elkhart was there to broadcast during the competition

Tomlonson was kind enough to share his recipe, but he warned that it is for making a full gallon, so it needs to be reduced down for making a smaller batch. He said the pineapple habanero flavor at Buffalo Wild Wings is one of his favorite sauces and he used that for inspiration.



The Shipshewana Ice Festival takes place each January in downtown Shipshewana. It is a two-day event taking place on a Friday and Saturday (everything downtown is closed on Sunday). The wing competition takes place on Friday night with the chili cook-off taking place the following afternoon. Keep it in mind for 2026 and go to VisitShipshewana.com for more information. The area is beautiful in the winter months!