Claire Hughes, right, and friend at last year’s Cookoff won by Lower Mills Civic.
The competition will be hot, spicy and wide open for this weekend’s fifth annual Dorchester Chili Cookoff— a fundraiser for the Dorchester Day Parade. The event will be staged once again at the IBEW union’s Freeport Hall from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Event coordinator Pat O’Neill says that there are 22 entrants for the cook-off so far. New contestants include Ashmont Cycle, The Butcher Shop, Sea Breeze Restaurant and city council candidate Doug Bennett (the only politician on the roster as of Monday.)

Last year’s big winner was Dorchester Lower Mills— which also won the contest three years ago. The other past winners were City Councillor Ayanna Pressley and Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association.

All proceeds from the event go to help pay for the season’s big event: the Dorchester Day Parade, set for Sunday, June 5.

- Bill Forry