Queen of the wing
cleaning bones and breaking records
THe opportunity
Queen of the Wing came about when AGAR pitched the idea to a neighborhood board. When that board passed, AGAR decided to partner with 3CDC and put it on ourselves. The result was a fantastic day that packed Washington Park and smashed the single-day concessions sales record.
Getting the word out
Our first challenge was spreading awareness of a new event. We began by building a website and establishing social media channels, but we had a limited budget for paid ads, so knew we would need organic, word-of-mouth marketing to compliment those efforts. We focused on neighborhoods outside of the downtown circle and partnered with a few vendors to hold mini wing eating contests throughout the tri-state area, capitalizing on vendors that had weekly wing specials already established.
It worked! We saw many familiar faces from our mini-events at the main event. One participant at a mini-contest ended up telling his friend about it, who came to another event and won that contest. He then went on to win a competition at Queen of the Wing and a prize!
finding our flock
The next challenge was to lock in vendors, partners, and sponsors. Working with 3CDC, we did targeted outreach to vendors and sponsors from all over the area. Each vendor was provided marketing materials, a tent and space at the festival, and the chance to win one of the many competitions. While the crowd voted on the overall winner of Queen of the Wing, we selected local celebrities in the food scene to act as judges. They went through each vendor throughout the day to select the best in categories like Best Sauce, Best Dry Rub, Hottest Wings, and more.
The main event
The day finally arrived and, despite the late summer heat, we were thrilled to see the park crowded for the entire day. Guests enjoyed all of the elements of the festival, vendors sold out of food, and the votes for Queen of the Wing were counted.
Queen of the Wing elements:
30+ food vendors, plus food trucks, side dishes, and desserts
Multiple competitions including Hot Ones and a Speed Round
Performances - local bands performed throughout the day and the Kween of the Wing Drag Show, hosted by Jessica Dimon, kicked off in the evening
Activities: giant corn hole, mechanical bull, voting, Lil’ Chicks Zone
Concessions: broke the single-day concessions record for Washington Park
