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First ever Mac ‘n’ Cheese Fest to help hungry kids

Comfort food, cold brews and helping the underprivileged – words John Williams wants to make synonymous with the first-ever Denton Mac ‘n’ Cheese Festival.

Debuting Sunday, Oct. 28, the festival will be held from 2-6 p.m. on East Oak Street. Attendees who have purchased a $10 ticket will be able to sample 30 to 40 mac ‘n’ cheeses from local businesses and decide on their favorite. Proceeds will go toward helping local children pay for school lunches and to the Denton Community Food Bank.

Williams, the event’s organizer and owner of Oak Street Drafthouse and Eastside, said he had some help with creating the idea.

“It actually started with one of my buddies, Corey Bobbitt. He owns Komodo Loco, and we kind of grew up together,” Williams said. “He came up with the idea of doing a mac ‘n’ cheese fest…we’ve been talking about it for about six or eight months and finally found a date that would work.”

The festival was initially slated to be smaller with about 15 to 20 mac ‘n’ cheese entries and 300 tickets, but interest in the event prompted Williams to expand it to 40 entrees and 500 tickets.

Because of Oak Street Drafthouse’s limited space and the size of the festival, organizers will close down an area from Oak Street to Komodo Loco and host the event outdoors.

Though this is the first year of the event, Williams hopes to raise a significant amount to help hunger-threatened children and families in the area.

“We’re looking at hopefully raising somewhere between $3-4,000,” Williams said. “We’re also putting something on Facebook saying that the event is sold out, but if you’d still like to help with local school lunches, there’s a link you can donate, so hopefully we can get a couple more grand there.”

Those interested in supporting William’s mission can follow the event page here, where a link to a donation site will be forthcoming.

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