There are pierogi, taco and pickle festivals, and Lisa Ray, who owns Hammajack Heat Co. with her husband, couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a hot sauce festival.

She wasn’t just curious. Ms. Ray acted on it and worked with Velum Fermentation on the South Side and hot sauce makers for the inaugural Rivers of Fire hot sauce festival on Saturday, uniting hundreds of chili pepper- and hot sauce-loving aficionados to the South Side brewery.

Talk of a second festival next year is already in the works.

It’s a pure pepper passion for Ms. Ray.

“The event is not profit-driven. Our goals were not to lose money, have fun and advertise our Hammerjack Heat brand,” she said.

They pre-sold 300 tickets with hundreds more attending to visit about 30 vendors with 18 selling hot sauce. The event inclu

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