At McGroarty's Chili Bowl Festival, the Bowls Come From the Classes They Help Fund
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
In 2023, close to 700 visitors filled both floors of the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga over a single December weekend, Crescenta Valley Weekly reported. They bought 640 bowls of chili, served from 100 gallons made for the occasion, and each one came in a handmade ceramic bowl that went home with them.
The 22nd annual Holiday Festival returns to 7570 McGroarty Terrace on Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6. On the center's festival schedule, Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center's students and instructors throw the bowls, and the festival proceeds, booth fees included, go to the center's low-cost art classes. Member registration for the next term of those classes opens on the Wednesday after the festival.
The bowls are made on site. Last year's festival page said they come from "a variety of local artists, students, and volunteers" at the center, that each one is unique, and that you keep the bowl. When Crescenta Valley Weekly previewed the 2024 festival, facility director Annette Bethers said the bowls were made by McGroarty students and some of the center's instructors. She put the effort at about 1,000 hours of work.
"These are longtime students who are very experienced and very talented. Our instructors are master artisans."
Annette Bethers, McGroarty Arts Center facility director, in Crescenta Valley Weekly, December 2024
Those studios have just finished a term. The fall youth ceramics classes ended on November 10 and 11. The festival also lets you watch the process. In 2024 the program included a potters' demonstration of how one of the bowls is made.
The 2023 figures show the scale. Crescenta Valley Weekly reported that a handmade bowl with chili cost $16 that year, and the 640 bowls sold came close to the roughly 700 people who came through. That works out to nearly one bowl per visitor. Executive Director Kylie Ruan projected about $20,000 in gross proceeds for the weekend, from 100 gallons of chili, cornbread and a share of vendor sales. The money was set aside for art classes and art teachers. Those are 2023 numbers. The price and totals for this year's festival can differ.
The center's current festival FAQ spells out where the money goes. McGroarty Arts Center is a nonprofit, and the FAQ says "100% of all proceeds, including your vendor space fee, go directly back into our center to fund low-cost art classes for both adults and children." The next line reads, "It keeps this beautiful community center alive!"
The vendors follow the same rule as the bowls. Everything sold at the marketplace must be handmade by the vendor, "No exceptions!" Booths are chosen by the center's director based on quality and on how many vendors applied in each medium. Applications for 2026 closed on October 9.
The center's own history explains where the festival happens. The center opened in 1953 in Rancho Chupa Rosa, the home of John Steven McGroarty, which was built in 1923 and 1924. That same year the property was sold to the City of Los Angeles. In 1970 the house became Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 63.
Management has changed hands over the decades. Recreation and Parks ran the property from 1953 to 1974, and then the Department of Cultural Affairs took over. Since the center was privatized in 1995, a nonprofit McGroarty Arts Center has run it in partnership with Cultural Affairs. That nonprofit is the organization the festival proceeds go to.
The center calls itself "Your Neighborhood Art Center." Its stated mission is to offer "affordable or free in-depth arts instruction" to people of all ages. The chili bowls are one of the most visible ways that mission gets funded.
The center's events page lists the 22nd Annual Holiday Craft Faire & Chili Bowl Festival for December 5 and 6. The last two festivals show what a visit usually includes:
According to Crescenta Valley Weekly's 2023 coverage, volunteers behind the chili line that year included Verdugo Hills High School students running the bake sale and Tujunga and Sunland residents serving chili and cornbread.
The center's calendar puts the festival and the start of winter registration close together. On the homepage the dates read:
Members get a one-week head start, and the festival is the weekend just before it. The center sells Friends of McGroarty memberships at two levels. A single membership is $300 a year. A family membership is $500 a year and covers up to four people in the same household. Members get discounts on classes, priority registration, extra studio time for anyone enrolled in a class, and early admission to events and sales. On its membership page, the center says a membership counts as a tax-deductible donation to Friends of McGroarty Cultural Arts Center. That point is general information, not tax advice, so check with your own tax professional before counting on it.
The center's site has the class catalog, and its homepage promises "early registration, member pricing and other perks" with membership. If a December visit makes you want to throw a bowl of your own, the noon openings on December 9 and 16 are the dates to keep.
At Petro Real Estate Group, we follow the Sunland-Tujunga calendar because it shapes how weekends here really go, from the chili line on McGroarty Terrace to the January start of class at the old Rancho Chupa Rosa. If you're thinking about how your home in the foothills fits your next chapter, we'd be glad to talk it over. Schedule a Consultation with Andrew and Stacy whenever the timing feels right.
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