A Philadelphia tradition has sadly come to an end as WIP Sports Talk Radio has discontinued Wing Bowl, its annual chicken wing eating competition.

For more than a quarter century, thousands of people woke up well before dawn (or most likely stayed up all night) to congregate at Wells Fargo Center, boozing in the parking lot before cheering on local yokel and even celebrities as they gorged on the saucy snack. The outrageous spectacle was a promo-filled pep rally, with the competitors’ personal cheerleaders – referred to as Wingettes – tossing logoed products of mini foam footballs, rally towels and can coolers to the crowd.

The extravaganza started in 1993 to give football fans something to celebrate around Super Bowl season because the Philadelphia Eagles were usually far, far away from the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Of course, that all changed this year when backup quarterback Nick Foles led the Eagles to its first championship. As a result of the losing streak snapping, as well as the increasing restrictions in our current politically correct landscape, the local radio station decided to let Wing Bowl go out on top. While diehard fans wouldn’t trade a Super Bowl win for anything, it does leave the city starving for chicken wing hijinks.

Enter the Philadelphia Wing Festival, a less controversial, yet equally gluttonous event.

Hundreds of chilly carnivores packed the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia on November 10, sampling a smorgasbord of flavored wings from over a dozen of the area’s restaurants and food trucks. In addition to various contests such as wing eating, ranch dressing chugging and French fry gobbling, a replica of the Lombardi Trophy was on hand for attendees to get photos with.

The festival was a goldmine for promotional products, even more so than Wing Bowl. Sprint, the event’s main sponsor, gave out logoed draw string bags, paper chicken hats and chicken wing keychains. Meanwhile, State Farm offered branded draw string bags and thermoses. Top Golf invited attendees to spin a prize wheel to win a bottle opener, koozie, water bottle, T-shirt or sun glasses.

According to the event’s Facebook page, another wing festival is slated for next year. Hopefully, promo firms capitalize on this new yearly festival, especially for the orange buckets that all attendees receive to carry their bones. Despite the event’s logo emblazoned on aprons for VIP members, the buckets have no labelling at all.

That’s a branding opportunity for distributors to feast on.