All - Leep Calendar

The first World Championship Chili Cook-off occurred in 1967 and continues to grow yearly. It is a highly anticipated event featuring hundreds of chefs competing for the World's Best Chili prize. CHILI, THE MEXICAN & AMERICAN FUSION OF FLAVOR To understand the southwestern United States, you need to understand chili. Chili is a genuine Mexican-American invention, a stew perfected on the cattle drives between northern Mexico and Montana during the western expansion of the 19th century. San Antonio, Texas, popularized the hash. Today it is cooked in a variety of ways with different ingredients. Chili is a gastronomic art form; don't mess with the chili chef! Beans, one of the easiest to transport and inexpensive protein sources, were the cowboys' main sustenance on the cattle trail. Often, beans were all they had, so the cowboys, a large percentage of whom were Latino and influenced by Central American cuisine, mixed these with spices and chilies to take the monotony out of the hearty dish. When meat, usually beef, bison, or deer, was available, it was added, creating "chili con carne," or chili with meat. Traditional chili does not include beans, only meat, spices, and chilis. Homestyle chili contains beans, chilies, and spices with or without meat. Green chili is made using various green rather than red chilis and can contain meat and beans. CHILI’S COUSINS AND FORBEARERS What we call chili today isn't the first dish to play with chilis, beans, and meat. In the Middle East, tribes, traders, and travelers make a bean-based hot stew called ful (sometimes spelled fuol), which is eaten on flatbread dipped into a common pot; some recipes are pretty hot with peppers and chilies. Like American chili, each nation in West Asia and North Africa has its unique spin on ful, and ful chefs guard their secret family recipes with vigor! Turkey has a delicious meat stew cooked and buried in a fire within clay pots called Güveç, an ancient cousin of chili without beans. Pioneers, trappers, explorers, and homesteaders created dried chili bricks that easily traveled. The bricks were dropped in boiling water, and the dinner was ready. The bricking recipe is found in ""Mexican Gold Trail: The Journey of a Forty-niner,"" published in 1849 by George W B Evens. Bricks included fat, beef, and spices pounded into blocks and could be combined with anything found on the trail. Immigrants from the Canary Islands off West Africa settling in San Antonio in 1723 created a dish combining local peppers, spices, wild onions, garlic, meat, and coconut. Other stories of chili's origin point to the Aztecs, Spanish Conquistadors, laundry ladies, and even nuns. What is known is that 1828 was the first time the Mexican-American dish was referenced in a newspaper. Chili combines with hamburgers, hotdogs, and nachos. It can be served in bread bowls, as a casserole, as a garnish, or eaten ala carte. Top it with cheese, bacon, crackers, chips, sour cream, or sesame seeds. It's really up to the chef what goes in it. Individual cultures create their versions using locally available ingredients. The only requirement for authenticity is that the recipe includes several chili varieties.

Africa

Sep

Coffee Morning, Macmillan World’s Biggest (UK): September 26

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Hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support, The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is a fundraiser that supports people with cancer and cancer research. Packets to take part are available on the event website.

Africa

Sep

Environmental Health Day, World: September 26

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These objectives of World Environmental Health Day are eliminating food waste, increasing sustainability in energy and farming, addressing logistical concerns, and highlighting the need to protect the planet and climate to ensure life continues. Each country hosts its activities and forums for education and action. Annually on September 26.

Africa

Sep

Hug a Vegan Day: September 26

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Vegans need love, too and today is your chance to show your vegan friends how much they mean to you. So walk right up, swing your arms around them, and hug them.

Africa

Sep

Indian Heritage Day, American (US-TX): September 26

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The State of Texas celebrates American Indian Heritage Day to honor native peoples, their cultures, honor their elders, and preserve their ways for the future. This event began in 2013.

Africa

Sep

Johnny Appleseed Day (1774): September 26*

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Johnny Appleseed Day is celebrated annually on the birthday of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), September 26, 1774. He died on March 18, 1845 Johnny Appleseed was a conservationist and a philanthropist who planted apple trees throughout the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, preaching the Gospel as he traveled in exchange for a place to stay.

Africa

Sep

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest (CA-ON): September 26 -October 18 (est)

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Bavaria comes to Canada each year in the form of the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. This beer-centered festival of music, culture, and food hugs Canadian Thanksgiving. Attended annually by over 700,000 people, this is the second largest Oktoberfest celebration in the world.

Africa

Sep

Liberty Fall Festival, (US-MO): September 26-28 (est)

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The Liberty Fall Festival in Liberty, Missouri, attracts 40,000 people annually. Featured at the festival are 175 quality Arts and Crafts booths, including original designs by various artists in textiles, wearable art, hand-crafted ceramics, decorative and functional wood, jewelry, leather, photography, paintings, drawings, prints, and metal work: food, carnival rides and a parade round out the festivities. PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are unknown until a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Sep

Love Note Day: September 26

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Love Note Day encourages people to send personalized notes to the ones they love (absent emojis and using more than 240 characters for a change). Letter writing is becoming a lost art, and the simple act of jotting a quick note of endearment to someone you love and slipping it into their lunch or wallet will make their day. Use Love Note Day as your opportunity to make someone smile.

Africa

Sep

Lumberjack Day: September 26

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Lumberjack Day (aka National Pancake Day) was invented in 2005 by Marianne Ways and Colleen AF Venable as an excuse to eat a TON of pancakes and waffles with friends. The women were sick of pirate-themed parties after the famous "Talk Like a Pirate Day." They created Lumberjack Day to change the tone. Over the years, Lumberjack Day has grown, and more people are celebrating, getting dressed up in plaid and beards (or sometimes even as giant pancakes or trees or oxen!), carrying fake axes, and throwing colossal lumberjack-themed parties.

Africa

Sep

Monterey Jazz Festival (US-CA): September 26-28 (est)

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First held in 1959, the Monterey Jazz Festival is a highly anticipated annual event in picturesque Monterey, California, on 20 acres of fairgrounds. The event features music on eight live stages, films, food, and an international bazaar. PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are unknown until a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Sep

Native American Day, (US-CA): September 26*

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Native American Day honors the Native American culture and its contributions to the fabric and vitality of the United States. This day came into existence when Governor Ronald Reagan signed a resolution. In 1998, the California Assembly passed AB 1953, which made Native American Day an official state holiday. The day is marked by tribes and supporters of Native American culture throughout the country. Depending on the state, this day can also occur on the 4th or the 2nd Monday in October.

Africa

Sep

Nottingham Goose Fair, (UK): September 26 - October 5 (est)

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NOTTINGHAM GOOSE FAIR: A 700-YEAR-OLD TRADITION Over 250,000 visitors flock to the Nottingham Goose Fair, one of the United Kingdom's oldest and most beloved annual events, each autumn. The fair is held at the Forest Recreation Ground and features rides, games, food stalls, and entertainment, drawing people of all ages to celebrate fun and tradition. The Nottingham Goose Fair's origins date back more than 700 years, with its name rooted in the medieval practice of trading geese at the event. First mentioned in 1284 (the time of Robin Hood), the fair initially served as a livestock market, with geese being driven from the Lincolnshire Fens to Nottingham for sale. Over time, the event evolved from a market fair to one focused on entertainment, and today, it has become one of the largest travel fairs in Europe. Held over the course of five days, typically in the first week of October, the fair features more than 500 attractions. From towering roller coasters and exhilarating thrill rides to traditional fairground favorites like carousels and candy floss stalls, the fair caters to thrill-seekers and families alike. In addition to the rides, visitors can enjoy a variety of food vendors offering classic British snacks and international cuisines, making it a lively and diverse experience.The event is immensely popular, with an estimated half a million people attending each year. Locals and tourists flock to the fair, eager to enjoy its unique atmosphere and comprehensive attractions. The fair's long-standing tradition and historical significance have helped cement its status as a key cultural event in Nottingham, drawing generations of families who attend year after year.Attendees come not only for the amusement but also for the sense of community and tradition. For many, the fair is a nostalgic trip back to childhood, while others attend to experience one of the country's most iconic fairs for the first time. Whatever the reason, the Nottingham Goose Fair continues to be a vibrant and cherished event in the UK's calendar, blending history with contemporary fun.

Africa

Sep

Nuclear Weapons, Intl. Day for the Total Elimination of: September 26

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Nuclear weapons pose a unique and potentially existential threat to our planet. Simply using them initiates a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe. International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons seeks to eliminate this manmade threat by abolishing the existence and use of nuclear weapons globally.

Africa

Sep

Platelets Day, Sport Purple for: September 26

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Sport Purple for Platelets Day is a part of the National ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura) Awareness campaign. _______________ “ITP, immune thrombocytopenia (also known as immune or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura) is an autoimmune disease. In autoimmune diseases, the body mounts an immune attack on one or more seemingly ordinary organ systems. In ITP, platelets are the target, marked as foreign by the immune system and eliminated in the spleen, the liver, and other means. In addition to increased platelet destruction, some people with ITP also have impaired platelet production. An average platelet count is between 150,000 and 400,000/microliter of blood. If someone has a platelet count lower than 100,000/microliter of blood with no other reason for low platelets, that person is considered to have ITP.1 There is no accurate, definitive test to diagnose ITP.” Platelet Disorder Support Association ____________________ ITP can occur in children and adults. This day is about raising awareness about the condition and the people living with it. Wear purple today, and tell people why you are doing so.

Africa