Pulaski's Chili Cook-Off Lands the Night Before Veterans Day This Year

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, cooks start unloading tables, chairs, slow cookers and 100-foot extension cords along Second Street in downtown Pulaski. They have until 5:30 to set up in their assigned 10-by-10 spaces and move their vehicles. The ticket table sits in the middle of the street, and by 5:45 every chili, soup, cookie and pan of cornbread entered for judging has to be there with a booth number on it.

The 35th annual Giles Chamber Chili Cook-Off runs that evening from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Last year it was on a Thursday. WKSR's preview put the 34th edition on Thursday, November 6, 2025, on the Pulaski Square. This year's date puts the cook-off on the night before Veterans Day. On Wednesday, November 11, the Giles American Legion holds its annual parade and ceremony at the Courthouse Gazebo.

So downtown gets two nights in a row with the same backdrop, and this year both share a theme. The cook-off's theme is "Founding Flavors of Freedom." The Legion's ceremony will include what the Chamber calendar calls "a special tribute to America 250." Together they make one long downtown stretch in the middle of the week, and that stretch kicks off a holiday calendar that runs almost entirely through the Giles Chamber until mid-December.

Tuesday on Second Street

The cook-off is one of the Chamber's two annual fundraisers, so your ticket money goes to the organization that also runs Mingle Jingle and the Christmas Parade. Tickets are $7 and cover tasting portions of chili, plus cornbread, drinks and cookies, while supplies last. You buy them that night at the ticket table in the center of Second Street. Last year's coverage listed a separate $3 child ticket. The 2026 listing gives only the $7 price, so call the Chamber at 931-363-3789 if you're bringing kids and want to know ahead of time.

The evening follows a schedule, and when you arrive changes what you'll see:

1. 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Booths set up. Burners need committee approval ahead of time, and any booth using a business's electricity has to arrange it in advance. The Chamber's booth map doesn't assume power is available.
2. 5:30 p.m. Tasting opens.
3. 5:30 to 5:45 p.m. Judging entries go to the ticket table. Anything turned in after 5:45 isn't judged.
4. About 7:00 p.m. Judging wraps up, and ribbons and trophies are handed out at the stage.
5. 9:00 p.m. The event ends.

Seven awards are handed out: 1st and 2nd Place Best Chili, 1st Place Soup, Best Cornbread, Best Cookie, Best Booth Decorations and People's Choice. People's Choice is the one the crowd decides. Each booth gets a voting container. One ticket counts as one vote, or $1 buys five votes. The Chamber's listing is clear that the winner gets "No prize, just bragging rights." Since dollars can buy votes, a booth with a big following can push its total up over the evening, and that money goes to the Chamber too.

The Best Booth Decorations award is where the theme shows. Last year's theme was "Wild West Chili Fest," according to WKSR. "Founding Flavors of Freedom" sets this year's booths up for red, white and blue the night before the Legion's America 250 tribute.

A few practical notes from the Chamber's listing:

• Restrooms are in the Courthouse basement, through the west side entrance.
• Parking is off the immediate square and at the Courthouse Annex, because Second Street itself is full of booths.
• Booth sign-ups were due November 3, according to the Chamber's listing. Booths cost $50 at the member rate, and each came with two complimentary tickets.
• Sponsors get a reserved setup spot, and the Chamber still welcomes sponsorships.

One newer spot sits on Second Street too. The Community Fridge & Pantry at 226 N. Second St., behind The Table, opened September 13 and offers free food 24 hours a day. As the Pulaski Citizen reported, P3 Tennessee and Second Street Coffee House started it with support from First United Methodist Church of Pulaski.

Wednesday at the Gazebo

The next day, Veterans Day, the Giles American Legion's parade and Courthouse Gazebo ceremony take over the square. The Chamber calendar lists the location as the Historic Downtown Pulaski Courthouse Gazebo. It has no start time or parade route posted yet. If you plan to bring a chair to the gazebo, check that listing or call 931-363-3789 before you leave.

The gazebo where Wednesday's ceremony happens is a short walk from where the cook-off awards are handed out Tuesday night. The two events are run by different groups, the Chamber on Tuesday and the American Legion on Wednesday, but the same courthouse sits at the center of both. If you skipped one last year because it fell on a different week, this year you can make both without changing your routine much.

The Chamber Calendar Picks Up From There

After Veterans Day, downtown has a few quiet weeks. The holiday season then starts out in the county and moves back to the square. Here are the dates already on the books for 2026:

The Campbellsville Area Association's tree lighting comes first, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it's free. Five days later, Mingle Jingle brings the season back to the square. Downtown businesses host open houses, and the evening includes kids' activities, food trucks and the lighting of the community tree. The library's free story time with Miss Elizabeth, Santa and Mrs. Claus fills the first hour, from 4 to 5 p.m., at 122 South Second Street, the same street that held the chili booths in November.

At least one downtown business will host its first Mingle Jingle at its current address this year. Pizza on Main #2 held its Chamber ribbon-cutting at 316 North First Street on September 28, celebrating its grand opening in downtown Pulaski.

The Christmas Parade starts and ends at the high school but passes right through downtown. Entries line up at Giles County High School at 3 p.m., judging starts at 3:15, and the parade steps off at 5. The route heads north on 1st Street, west on Washington, south on 2nd, east on Cemetery and south on 1st, then returns to the high school. Washington and Second, where the chili booths and the tree were, become the middle of the route.

The parade's rules are specific, and they're posted on the Chamber's parade listing. It's free to enter and free to watch. Registration closes December 11 at noon. Horse entries must show proof of a negative Coggins test at staging, and motorcycles aren't allowed. Floats can't carry their own Santa, because the official Santa rides at the end of the parade. If your church, club or business is building a float, the full rules are linked from that listing.

What Changes for Your Calendar

Moving the cook-off from a Thursday last year to a Tuesday this year puts the season's first two downtown events back to back. That makes November 10 and 11 easy to plan as a pair: chili on Second Street Tuesday evening, then the Legion's America 250 ceremony at the gazebo on Wednesday. From there, the dates to save are November 28 in Campbellsville, December 3 for Mingle Jingle, and December 12 for the parade. The Chamber organizes or lists most of them, and its office number, 931-363-3789, works for all of them.

First Realty Group has been based in Pulaski since 1995, and these downtown nights are part of what makes the square feel like home to so many of the families we work with. If you have questions about a historic property near the square or land out toward Campbellsville, contact us.