Chowder challenge at Olde Mistick Village's Cabin Fever Festival

The temperatures and snowy bursts lately? Total soup weather.

And it just so happens it's also chowder time. Every February, Olde Mistick Village hosts the Cabin Fever Festival and Charity Chowder Cook-Off.

What does that mean? It means you can sample any of the chowders devised by more than 25 area restaurants and caterers. They are all vying, you see, for the event's best chowder title, along with the people's choice award and honors for the most creative, the heartiest, and the best use of regional ingredients.

Oh, and you just need a $1 ticket to buy a 3-ounce cup.

The event benefits the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center Emergency Food Pantry and has raised between $4,000 and $11,000 on each of its 10 years. (That $11,000 high was from last year).

During the festival, visitors can enjoy outdoor entertainment, too, and family events - all free.

- KRISTINA DORSEY

Cabin Fever Festival & Charity Chowder Cook-Off, noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Olde Mistick Village, Coogan Boulevard, Mystic; tickets $1 for each 3-ounce cup of chowder, or 12 tickets for $10; oldemistickvillage.com.