Mountain Chile Cha Cha - Ready for some Hey Bro?

The Mountain Chile Cha Cha Festival celebrates trail running, combining our incredible in-town trails with the famous Pagosa Springs music and green chile festival. Celebrate the series, the season, trail running and getting kids outside on Pagosa's killer downtown trail course. Beautiful, challenging and remote, all right downtown.  In it's 8th year it has some remarkable characters and traditions. Here's the story of Hey Bro Chile!

Hey Bro Green Chile celebrates their third anniversary this summer. With news from Hatch that the crop will be ready to harvest in early August, Hey Bro’s Andy Warden surveys his homemade chile roaster for any necessary maintenance.

“It all started because of the Patty Aragon Green Chile Cook Off that takes place in Pagosa Springs at the end of the summer. Everyone was eager to make green chile and eat chiles, and there weren’t any roasters available for on-site roasting at the event. I decided to make my own roaster to fill this need.”

“People love to hang out and watch while Andy runs the roaster” says Hey Bro’s female counterpart and wife, Cory Warden. “Everyone loves fire and flames, and the aroma that escapes from the roasted chiles is intoxicating. I always say I wish I could bottle that smell so I could enjoy it all year long.”

“I like selling the chiles” Hey Bro’s third partner and nine year old son Theo remarks. “My job is to help my mom with bagging the fresh, hot roasted peppers and helping with sales. I like eating them too, especially the first batch that is roasted with bacon to help season the roaster.”

“It’s definitely a labor of love” chuckles Andy from under the bandana he wears to keep the hot fumes from burning his nose and mouth. “We love using green chiles in our cooking, as do many of our friends. One friend buys our chiles to make his own chile beer. By roasting a few days in the summer we provide green chiles to many of our friends, other green chile enthusiasts, and stock our freezer too.”

Visit Hey Bro Green Chile at the Mountain Chile Cha Cha on Saturday, August 24th in Town Park, Downtown Pagosa Springs to purchase delicious, fresh roasted Hatch green chiles. Or call 970-946-4219 to pre-order bushels.

To enter your green chile (meat, vegetarian or people's choice) in the Patty Aragon Chile Cookoff click here.