Rain dripped from red, white and blue decorations at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters Friday afternoon, but that didn’t stop the roar of wild cheers from spilling across Lake Austin at the cafe’s third annual pie-eating contest. In the background, barbershop quartet Better Than Before harmonized patriotic a cappella tunes as dozens of contestants prepared for a sticky, star-spangled showdown.
This summer, Mozart’s reimagined its traditional Father’s Day pie-eating contest as a two-day Fourth of July celebration. The free, family-friendly event attracted hundreds of spectators and 72 participants ages 16 to 54, including UT students. With prizes varying from lake cruises to branded merch, live music performances and 400 cherry pies baked in-house, the contest showcased everything Mozart’s bakes, brews and brings together for the Austin community.
“Over the years, we’ve made a large effort to include the community in events at Mozart’s,” cafe co-owner Stacey Leonard said. “It was a natural fit to have this be a family-friendly event.”
She said this celebration reflects Mozart’s core values through its four pillars: music and entertainment, bakery, coffee and place.
“The pie-eating contest blends all that together,” Leonard said. “It’s the capabilities that we do everything there in-house that make us more of an authentic cafe.”
Janelle Sosa, Mozart’s marketing and promotions director, darted across the stage with a camera in one hand and spare water bottles in the other as contestants dove face-first into mini cherry pies, with crumbs flying across the stage. Focused on capturing the chaos for Mozart’s Instagram followers, Sosa said the contest also created a chance to engage with UT students.
“A big part of why we’re doing it is because we know how important the UT student population is to what we do,” Sosa said. “A majority of (UT students) are gone for the summer, but we do still have those non-traditional students in our backyard (at Brackenridge Apartments) that we can offer another fun event to … still reminding (students), ‘Come to Mozart’s! Even if you’re not studying.’”
A first-time competitor, Sarthak Sarans, said the contest felt like Austin’s best qualities rolled into one event.
“(Mozart’s) really encompasses Austin as a whole and brings a lot of things people love doing in Austin to one nice spot,” said Sarans, a UT electrical and computer engineering junior. “Also, it was family-friendly and it was free, and all these factors together made it a well put-together event.”
Despite crushing three pies, Sarans’ defeat didn’t look like a loss with his family applauding him in the crowd. Every family in the crowd cheered for their contestants, shaping the encouraging atmosphere Mozart’s envisioned for this event.
“I’ll definitely be going back,” Sarans said. “And hopefully I’ll be getting a prize.”
