It’s been a cold January but later this month residents are invited to come out and brave the temperature to try some soups and chilis at the third annual Souper Bowl on Saturday, Jan 27 in downtown Madison.

Put on by the Madison Chamber of Commerce, the event originally came together as a way to get people outside and raise a bit of money, according to Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eileen Banisch.

“It’s just people—children, grown-ups, everybody—coming down and having a good time and it is kind of a nice way to break up the monotony of winter and the post-holiday blues,” she said. “I think people are looking for a way to get outdoors.”

The event takes place downtown and 16 to 18 local businesses and non-profits are expected to participate. Residents pay $10 for an entrance wristband and then get to taste a variety of chilis and soups.

“It’s mainly restaurants, although we have a couple of non-profit organizations as well to come in and make soups and chilis,” she said. “It is basically an outdoor tasting event…The people who are participating are donating all of this food and people go from table to table and when they register we give people a little score card and they rate the favorites and then at the end we tally it all up and give awards out.”

While the event is fun, Banisch said it gets a little competitive, too.

“For the past two years Madison Hose Co. No. 1 has just barely nosed out the North Madison Volunteer Fire Department in the chili department, so it is always a hot contest between those two,” she said.

In the past two years, money from the event has gone to Joe Barber, a local teen who was seriously injured in a diving accident, and to cystic fibrosis research efforts. This year, Banisch said the money is going back to the Chamber to help fund projects and events throughout the year.

“This year will support different Chamber projects, so, for instance two weeks later we are doing the Olympic event downtown, we have beautification projects we are working on downtown, we are also this year hoping to partner with [the] Economic Development [Commission] to help with a destination Madison project to bring more tourism to town to help the local businesses,” she said.

The third annual Souper Bowl is Saturday, Jan 27 from noon to 2:30 p.m. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to Sunday, Jan 28. Tickets are $10 a person and can be purchased at the event or online at madisonct.com in advance of the event.