None — ASHEVILLE, N.C. --Hundreds of contestants with gingerbread houses in-tow recently made their way to the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville for the 18th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition.
This event has gained national recognition since The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa held the first competition in 1993. The competition now includes hundreds of entries from across the country and it has blossomed into a holiday tradition.
The 2010 National Gingerbread House Competition featured participants from 20 states and as young as 5.
"This was one of the most exciting and competitive National Gingerbread House Competitions to ever take place at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa," said Ronald E. Morin, vice president and managing director of The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.
Entries were judged on overall appearance, originality/creativity, difficulty, precision and consistency of theme. Except for the base, the entries had to be constructed entirely of edible materials. The gingerbread creations could not exceed two feet wide, two feet long and two feet high. While most of the entries were gingerbread houses, entries did not have to be a house. The gingerbread creativity featured themes like castles, barnyards, country inns and windmills.
"The judges truly had a difficult time and these winners deserve gingerbread glory for the beauty and creativity they put into their works of holiday culinary art," Morin said. "We had contestants from as far away as Texas, Kansas, Wisconsin and New York enter the event this year. And since the gingerbread houses have to be transported and dropped off at the Grove Park Inn, you know we had some very serious competitors."
All of the entries in the National Gingerbread House Competition will be on display at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa now through Jan. 2. The public is invited to view the displays any Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Guests at the resort and those dining at one of the restaurants on the property may view the displays at any time.
Several of the winning gingerbread houses will be taken to New York City the week of Dec. 18 for an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Other interesting facts:
• From 1993 to 2009, there have been more than 3,000 competition entries from 26 states.
• The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa's National Gingerbread House Competition started with 12 competition entries in 1993 and has had as many as 397 entries in recent years.
• The Grove Park Inn's National Gingerbread House Competition has received entries was 26 states over its history. Those states are Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.
• Tens of thousands of people visit The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa to view the National Gingerbread House Competition entries during the month-and-a-half they are displayed. The competition reaches millions of others through national media coverage.
• "Good Morning America" has been hosting winners of the National Gingerbread House Competition since 1998.
• "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer was the first to recognize the competition as a national competition.
• The Food Network and the Travel Channel have featured The Grove Park Inn's National Gingerbread House Competition.
WSBTV
