Canberrans tried an alternate way to stay warm this winter: the World Curry Festival's chilli-eating competition.
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A crowd a few hundred strong packed into Garema Place on Saturday afternoon to watch about 15 brave contestants in the contest.
Back from winning the cup last year was Steven Diep who said he had spent the rest of his 2017 victory night curled in a ball, hovering around the toilet.
Mr Diep said now he knew what the pain was like, he was more ready for what the chillis had in store for him this year.
"The first time you're a bit ignorant. It's like being kicked in the balls," Mr Diep said.
Chillis are measured by Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Contestants were slated to work their way up from the common Bullhorn Chilli, a tepid 1200 SHU, to the widow-making Carolina Reaper at about 1.5 million SHU. Its extract - hallucinator - is 2.5 million SHU.
First Aid officers Melanie Flett and Lily Hills were on standby with garbage bags and milk when contestants started to bow out.
"They're going to vomit. That's what these are for," Ms Flett said, holding up a packet of garbage bags.
"They're pushing themselves too hard."
Ms Hills said in 2017, some contestants suffered allergic reactions, and some fainted. One person was hospitalised.
The two first aid officers said they'd never try their hand at the contest.
"I don't even put pepper in my food," Ms Flett said.
Away from the sweating on stage, Canberrans were sampling gentler options available at the food stalls.
Arjan Chehl, owner of Kingston's Bollywood Masala, was trying to help Canberrans expand beyond butter chicken and rogan josh.
"People are still stuck on butter chicken, unfortunately," Mr Chehl said.
"With Indian food you can do so many more things."
Saturday was Mr Chehl's first time holding a stall at the annual Curry Festival in Garema Place.
He said he hoped to offer dishes giving Canberrans a compelling reason to choose his restaurant from the myriad of the capital's Indian restaurants.
Pushkar Sood hosted a stall serving north Indian cuisine, which he said was different for its flavours and spices.
It was Mr Sood's third time at the festival.
"We love being here, meeting new people," Mr Sood said.
For Mr Sood, a good curry needed a whole lot of love. He hoped to add more spices to Canberrans palettes, giving them the option of slowly ramping up the intensity.
