2016 FESTIVAL BROCHURE September 3rd - 4th • COCA-COLA FIELD • BUFFALO, NY MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER THE NATIONAL FESTIVAL THE FESTIVAL HAS ALSO BECOME A GREAT was inspired in 2001 by the movie “Osmosis Jones. In TOURISM MAGNET for the Buffalo Region as wing the movie Bill Murray plays a ficticious character named lovers from all over America and the world make the annual Frank DeTorre who is a big junk food and wing addict. pilgrimage to pay homage to the birthplace of the Buffalo Frank’s goal is to attend the National Chicken Wing Fes- Wing. Last year we found through on-site surveys that at- tival in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo News columnist, Donn Es- tendees came from all 50 states and over 36 different coun- monde then wrote in a column that he was bewildered tries. The festival has had a great local economic impact. that Buffalo did not have such an event. That is when I THE NATIONAL BUFFALO WING FESTIVAL has be- decided to take on the challenge for my Hometown as come the “Super Bowl” of the chicken wing industry for well as my love for Buffalo Wings. In the restaurants, wing lovers and even competitive eaters. inaugural year of 2002, the plan was The festival has been showcased by such national set for an annual Labor Day Weekend event. 40,000 people filled Coca-Cola media as the , - “All-American Festi- Field to consume over 20 tons vals”, “”, “Throwdown with , of wings. and Live, the Travel Channel - “Bar Food Paradise”, “Taste of America”, and “Food AS WE ENTER INTO OUR Wars”, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s The View, Regis and Kelly, the CBS Morning Show, the BBC, Fox and FOURTEENTH YEAR, the festival has Friends and even a PBS documentary. been recognized as one of the best in the country by many publi- So “WING IT TO BUFFALO” and join us for cations, blogs and television the fun and excitement at one of Ameri- shows. In 2015 the festival ca’s greatest food festivals this Labor drew over 70,000 people. Day Weekend - The National Buffalo Over the last 14 years Wing Festival! the festival has drawn over 935,000 peo- “Keep Wingin’ It”, ple and served over 5 million wings. The festival which also sup- DREW CERZA ports local charities has donated over $320,000 THE "WING KING" since its inception.

EVENT DETAILS LOCATION ADVERTISING DEMOGRAPHICS Coca-Cola Field in Downtown Buffalo, NY • PRINT - Buffalo News, Night Life Magazine * Survey conducted in 2012 by Ruth Diamond Research, Inc. - Home of the Buffalo Bison Baseball Team (AAA) • TV - WGRZ TV2 (NBC), WKBW TV7 (ABC), FOX TV AVERAGE AGE: 39.3 CONTACT • RADIO - WGR550 Sports Radio, Kiss 98.5 Radio, % COLLEGE EDUCATED: 95% WBEN News Talk Radio, STAR 102 Radio Drew Cerza (716) 479-6545 MARRIED: 42% PAST MEDIA COVERAGE [email protected] AVERAGE HH INCOME: $82,583 Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning Show, CBS DATES 56% MALE 44% FEMALE National News, Good Morning America, ABC National Labor Day Weekend OVERALL SATISFACTION • Saturday, September 3rd - noon to 9pm News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox & Friends, Fox News, The View, Regis & Kelly, Food Network, Travel Channel, Emeril Live Overall satisfaction with the event averaged 4.4 on a scale • Sunday, September 4th - noon to 7pm of 1-5, with 5 being excellent. The most prevalent multiple and many more. Hundreds of print articles have also CROWD ESTIMATE verbatim reasons given behind high ratings included: been written in newspapers and publications including 70,000+ patrons over two days • “Wings” (11%) USA Today , New York Times, Saveur Magazine, and • “Great event” (10%) BENEFITING CHARITIES Parade Magazine just to mention a few. • Meals on Wheels of WNY • “Fun” (6%)

• Alzheimer’s Association of WNY • “Great food” (6%) • “Great time” (6%) • Food Bank of WNY • “Atmosphere” (5%) • Food Shuttle of WNY (Feeding the Hungry)

MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER THE NATIONAL BUFFALO WING FESTIVAL has become the “Super Bowl” of the chicken wing industry for restaurants, wing lovers and even competitive eaters. The festival has been showcased by such national media as the Food Network, - “All-American Festivals”, “Unwrapped”, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse Live, the Travel Channel - “Bar Food Paradise”, “Taste of America”, and “Food Wars”, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s The View, Regis and Kelly, the CBS Morning Show, the BBC, Fox and Friends and even a PBS documentary.

CNN Headline News CNN Live NBC Today Show

Throwdown with Bobby Flay Emeril Live Live with Regis and Kelly

NATIONAL TV TRACKING NATIONAL NETWORK AFFILIATES NATIONAL NETWORKS In 2015 TV Eyes Media Tracking Service REPORT GENERATED: CNN Live reported that over 260 network affiliates Total Story Count: 724 CNN Headline News of NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX TV covered MSNBC stories on the National Chicken Wing Total Nielsen Audience: 24,598,692 Fox News Festival. CNN and CNN Headline News The Weather Channel Total Calculated Ad also ran continuos stories all weekend. Equivalency: $1,064,249 Today Show CBS Early Show Cities included, all top 50 media mar- Total Calculated Publicity ABC Morning Show kets. The TV viewership by reported at Value: $3,193,287 NBC, CBS, and 10.57 million viewers and a media value ABC National News of over $573,000.

BENEFITING CHARITIES Each year, local charities benefit from the festival. Through the dozens of local charities including Meals on Wheels, Alzheimer’s of WNY, Food Bank of WNY, Cystic Fibro- sis, Americorps and the Food Bank of WNY. Since 2002 the festival has raised over $325,000 for local charities. LOCAL TV TRACKING LOCAL TELEVISION LOCAL BUFFALO MEDIA

Total Story Count: 135 Total Nielsen Audience: 4,696,894 Total 30-Second Ad Equivalency: $49,540 Total Run Time: 3:00:00 Total Calculated Ad Equivalency: $86,706 Time Warner ABC-TV7: AM Buffalo Show Total Calculated Publicity Value: $260,118 This report was generated by Newstrax through a national media tracking service for television. It contains copyrighted material and may be used for file and refer- ence purposes only. Any reproduction, sale or distribution is prohibited. Portions © 2007 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. Ratings data contained herein are the copyrighted property of Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NBC-TV2: Morning Show CBS-TV4: Morning Show

"THE GREAT CHICKEN WING HUNT" Film producer Matt Reynolds formerly of Reuters News the state finishing at the National Buffalo Wing Festival Agency decided to film a documentary of his quest for on Labor Day Weekend. The festival was a big part of the perfect chicken wing. On August 18, 2008 Matt the film. The cast was incorporated into the various started in New York City and worked his way across contests and festival activities.

Bill Murray RESTAURANTS Over thirty local and out of town restaurants from across America will serve over 100 different style of wing sauces this year. This past year the festival cooked approximately 500,000 wings with Trans Fat Free Oil provided by Bunge Oil. 2015 (Last Year’s) Participating Restaurants Anchor Bar -- Buffalo, NY Bocce Club Pizza -- Buffalo, NY Bonehead’s Wing Bar -- West Warwick, RI Booty’s Wings, Burgers & Beer -- Surprise, AZ Buffalo Angel Wings -- Buffalo, NY Danny’s Restaurants -- Buffalo Area Locations Hard Rock Cafe -- Niagara Falls, NY Duff’s Restaurant-- Buffalo, NY Falletta’s -- East Amherst, NY Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino -- Buffalo, NY Wing Street -- Texas The Healthy Zone -- Healthy alternatives to wings at The Healthy Zone booth!) Scallywags Grub & Spirits -- Derby, NY La Nova -- Buffalo, NY Legend Larry’s -- Sheboygan, WI 716 Food and Sport -- Buffalo, NY -- Tonawanda, NY Brick House Tavern + Tap -- Amherst, NY Pop N Bob’s -- Marilla, NY Quaker Steak & Lube -- Multiple locations throughout US & Canada RuChDa -- Atlanta, GA Sliders Grill & Bar -- Plainville, Berlin, Southington, Wallingford, West Hartford, CT All participating restaurants enter the National Wing Sauce-Off which consists of seven dif- NATIONAL ferent categories. Three winners are crowned in each category. Winners take home bragging rights and are able to use their awards in local and national advertising. Many list their award SAUCE-OFF winning sauces accompanied by the festival logo on their menus. Categories include Traditional Medium, Hot, X-Hot, Creative Sweet, Creative Spicy, BBQ, Dry Rub and Creative BBQ. The festival features live music all weekend long. Elvis ENTERTAINMENT impersonator, Terry Buchwald entertained thousands last year with his high energy performance. Local tal- ent also includes Pirate Dreams as they perform a “Jimmy Buffet Tribute”. International singing legend Terry Sylvester formerly of the Hollies has appeared in the past and performed many of hit #1 songs including “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress“, “The Air That I Breathe“, and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother“. Rap artist and competitive eater, Eric “Badlands” Booker performs songs from his CDs, including “Hungry and Focused”. The main stage emcee, Dennis George A.K.A. the “Quiz Master”, dazzles the crowd with his fun trivia shows all weekend long. A HOT TIME IN A COOL CITY

2002 - 2015 FESTIVAL FACTS 890,000 Attendees 5 Million Wings Served $320,000 Raised for Charity UNITED STATES BUFFALO WING EATING CHAMPIONSHIP In 2012, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut of San Jose, CA, consumed a world record of 191 chicken wings in 12 minutes and beat the two year champion Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas. Chestnut is also the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating Champ and the #1with competitive the national eater and in local the world.media. This was big news BABY WING CONTEST Let’s not forget the little ones. Sunday festivities begin with the Baby Wing Contest. Parents are encouraged to dress their children in Buffalo or chicken wing themed costumes. Themes included Chickens, Buffalo Bills, and many more!

BUFFALO BUFFET BOWL An annual crowd favorite is the Buffalo Buffet Bowl featuring some of Buffalo’s best regional foods including, pizza, pierogies, Buffalo chicken fingers and of course Buffalo Wings. The first contestant to finish the 5 pound plate is the winner. Amateur cooks from all over the country AMATEUR submit hundreds of entries each year to participate in the Traditional and Creative Wing Sauce Competition. Five partici- WING SAUCE pants compete in each category. Several contestants over the years have actually COMPETITION bottled their winning sauces and started wing sauce businesses. CREATIVE AND TRADITIONAL CATEGORIES

AMATEUR WING EATING COMPETITION

MISS BUFFALO WING PAGEANT

The Miss Buffalo Wing Contest is a display of world class pageantry. In 2013 contestants answered trivia questions about Buffalo, read excerpts from Macbeth and were asked to identify the heat intensity of the sauce on a chicken wing.

AMATEUR WING EATING COMPETITION Big wing eaters from all over the country compete to take home the crown of Amateur Wing Eating Champ. Twelve contestants feverishlyhighly competitive consume wings contest for 8 minutes in this

XXXHOT WING EATING CONTEST Big wing eaters from all over the country compete to take home the crown of Amateur Wing Eating Champ. Twelve contestants feverishlyhighly competitive consume wings contest for 8 minutes in this KIDS ZONE In the Kids Zone, you will find a great family atmosphere with fun chicken theme crafts and entertainment.

"BLUE CHEESE BOWL" BOBBING FOR WINGS This contest has been a festival and media favorite for years. Thousands of fans cheer on three contes- tants bobbing for wings in a kiddy pool filled with blue cheese dressing. After three minutes, the contestant that pulls out the most wings without using their hands is the winner. You may ask why do we get hundreds of entries? It’s simple…all for the free t-shirt. In 2006, Buffalo Wing Hall Of Flame was launched. The criteria for induction is based on an individual’s or organization’s commitment to the Wing Industry by helping to take chicken wings to the next level of popularity. 2006 - THE FIRST INDUCTEES WERE FRANK AND TERESSA BELLISSIMO, f o u n d e r s o f t h e A n c h o r B a r a n d c r e a t o r s o f t h e o r i g i n a l B u ff a l o W i n g i n 1 9 6 4 . 2007 - SCOTT LOWERY AND JIM DISBROW, FOUNDERS OF BUFFALO WILD WINGS were inducted for creating the largest chicken wing chain in the country at the time (over 450 units).

2008 - FRANK’S REDHOT was a natural induction in 2008 as they were the main ingre- dient in the original Buffalo Wing recipe. Frank’s is now the most popular wing sauce ingredient for restaurants across the country. 2009 - ADAM SCOTT AND MATT FRIEDMAN, FOUNDERS OF WING ZONE started cooking wings in their college dorms in at the Florida University.Since then they have over 100 units located predominately in the Southeast as well as International. 2009 - DONN ESMONDE, COLUMNIST FOR THE BUFFALO NEWS floated the idea of a National Wing Festival in a column back in 2001 after seeing the movie Osmosis Jones. Drew Cerza read the article at took on Donn’s challenge. 2010 – BUFFALO BISON BASEBALL ORGANIZATION, hosts of the National Buffalo Wing Festival at Coca-Cola Field since its inception in 2002. The Bison’s provide the infrastructure and support to make the festival a success.

2010– ANTONIO SWAD, FOUNDER OF RESTAURANTS. Antonio followed his dreams to open a chicken wing focused restaurant and didn’t stop until he reached 100 stores. He then sold the concept to a group that have made Wingstop one of the largest wing concept operators in the country with over 500 units.

2011 – BILL MURRAY, ACTOR IN OSMOSIS JONES, Bill Murray, Actor in Osmosis Jones played the part of an average Joe addicted to fried food and other artery-clogging fare, who was headed to Buffalo New York for… of all things… ..a chicken wing festival. Well, as we all know, at that time there WAS NO CHICKEN WING FESTIVAL in Buffalo, NY…at least not yet. 2011– DREW CERZA, WING KING AND NATIONAL BUFFALO WING FESTIVAL FOUNDER Drew Cerza, Wing King and National Buffalo Wing Festival Founder - Cerza’s vision has transformed Buffalo, NY into a destination for wing lovers the world over. They come to participate in the “experience” that IS the National Buffalo Wing Festival. An experience defined by the heart and soul of its creator, the Wing King himself, Buf- falo’s own Drew Cerza.

2012– MAJOR LEAGUE EATING - GEORGE SHEA, SONYA THOMAS, ERIC “BADLANDS” BOOKER. Major League Eating, is the sanctioning body for all professional eating contests worldwide. George Shea is its founder, CEO and the Master of Ceremonies at MLE events. Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas continues to dominate her peers while only weighing in at 105 pounds. Eric “Badlands” Booker is the people’s champ and is an integral part of the festival. 2013– JON YOUNG, BUFFALO RESTAURANTEUR AND CREATOR OF THE “MAMBO SAUCE.” John Young, former Buffalo restaurateur and chef is more than an asterisk in the rich annals of the chicken wing. He is a pioneer. In the 1960s, Young – independent of the 1964 wing-creation of Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar – came up with a variation of the now-renowned delicacy. Although Young claimed credit as the “true” creator of the chicken wing phenomenon, his is not the version that the world subsequently came to know and love. Had fate taken a different turn, however, we might today be slathering our wings in his highly seasoned, tomato-based “Mambo Sauce” – and Young would posthumously wear the crown of the chicken wing creation. TENTATIVE 2016 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS SATURDAY • September 3rd • 12-9 SUNDAY • September 4th • 12-7 PM

Kids Zone - Play all day! Kids Zone - Play all day! Amateur Creative Sauce-Off 1:00 PM 12:30 PM Baby Wing Competition Amateur Traditional Sauce-off 1:30 PM 1:00 PM Dennis George – Quizmaster Heavenly Chillbillies Blues Band 2:00 PM 1:30 PM Miss Buffalo Wing Pageant Dennis George – QuizMaster 2:30 PM 2:00 PM Bobbing for Wings The Healthy Zone Recipe Challenge 3:00 PM 2:30 PM College Wing Eating Competition Bobbing for Wings 3:30 PM 3:00 PM Hot Buffalo Wing Eating Contest Amateur Wing Eating Championship 4:00 PM 4:00 PM Dennis George – Quiz Master Dennis George – QuizMaster 4:45 PM 5:00 PM U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championship Restaurant Awards Ceremony 5:15 PM 6:00 PM Heavenly Chilbillies Buffalo Buffet Bowl Eating Contest 6:00 PM 7:00 PM Closing Ceremonies Heavenly Chilbillies Blues Band 7:00 PM End of Day One 9:00 PM

NATIONAL BUFFALO WING FESTIVAL www.BuffaloWing.com Produced by Just Wing It Productions 4595 Greenbriar Road, Williamsville, NY 14221 Contact: Drew Cerza (716) 565-4141 [email protected]