Features Editor

The only thing hotter than the macaroni and cheese was the weather at CSU Bakersfield’s fifth annual Macaroni and Cheese Festival, held at CSUB today.

Thousands of people indulged themselves with samples of gourmet mac and cheese, and washed it all down with beer and wines from over 20 wineries.

As people enjoyed their food and drink, they sat in lawn chairs and at tables, talking and listening to the music.

DJ J. Reed from hot 94.1 started the entertainment and soon turned it over to local Bakersfield band The Aviators for some live music.

The Festival is an annual fundraiser for the Roadrunner Athletic Scholarship Fund, which benefits student athletes at CSUB.

American General Media puts on the event, and donates five thousand dollars to the Fund, according to CSUB Athletics Director Kenneth Siegfried.

Siegfried said this event is a great way to for members of the general public to meet some of the great people involved with CSUB athletics.

“We have tons of student athletes, staff and coaches that donate time,” he said.

With thousands of attendees, chances were high people were going to meet both old and new friends.

Rhoda Hernando, a physical therapy aide at Glynn and Giordano said her favorite part of the festival was the atmosphere.

“You’re around good people and you might run into somebody you know, that you haven’t seen for a long time,” said Hernando.

Lines were long, but they moved quickly, and some vendors had fun games and giveaways once people got to the food.

Kristine Advincula, a student at Unitek College in Bakersfield, felt the event was worth the cost.

“I think it’s well worth the money. The drinks are my favorite thing,” Advincula said.

Stacy Huan, who came up from LA to visit Advincula, also enjoyed the event.

“It’s a good atmosphere, I think, a lot of different varieties of food, and of course there’s the drinks, so you can’t really go wrong there,” said Huan.

Restaurants were not the only businesses represented.

Other companies such as Kern Valley Printing, Sport Clips, and T-Mobile were at the Festival as well, with T-Mobile handing out fans people could use to ward off the heat.

The variety of macaroni and cheese dishes was both surprising and imaginative.

Options such as Pork Belly Mac and Cheese from Café Med competed against the Macaroni and Cheese A La Huancaina from Mi Peru.

The Broken Yolk, not to be outdone, featured a Bacon and Sausage Mac and Cheese.

“I like that there’s a variety of everything, you have your sweet, you have your savory, and certain combinations that you wouldn’t think to have with mac and cheese,” said Hernando.

Two awards for the best Macaroni and Cheese were given out.

The People’s Choice award went to Countryside Market and Restaurant for the third year in a row, for their Chile Verde Mac and Cheese.

The second award was brand new for this year, and was a blind taste test. When the results were in, Mossman’s Restaurant and Catering won the award with their Fish n Chip Mac and Cheese.

The happy crowds proved the Macaroni and Cheese Festival was a success again this year, and well worth the extra hours on the treadmill.