Austin Empty Bowl Project

When visiting family in Austin, Texas we attended the Empty Bowl Project. This annual fundraiser is a popular destination for families.
The large crowds waiting to get in made worried me at first. Organizers kept everyone entertained as the lines snaked through the lawn. Potters set up outdoors to demonstrate the bowl making process. Photographers took pictures of children posing inside huge soup kettles.
A fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank, everything is donated. The menu included many vegetarian, vegan and gluten free soups. Bread varieties overflowed baskets. Live music entertained the crowds.
Here is a link to our full review, picture and video from the event.
empty bowl

Last weekend I attended the Austin Empty Bowl Project for my 2^nd year. It was their 14^th year of putting it on though. It’s only held once a year but it’s such a great event that I thought I’d add it on Unilocal.
It’s held at the Mexican American Cultural Center. I got there early and took my place in line. There are volunteers handing out entry tickets and programs. There were also some things to watch like a man actually making pottery pieces on a wheel, a juggler, a musician that walked around and of course, pictures with the giant soup pot and spoon. We had chairs that we brought and then we put them away closer to the event opening.
Local potters and students make thousands of handmade bowls that you purchase for $ 15 each. So as you are let into the first room, there are tables with hundreds of bowls set out for you to choose from. That’s probably one of the hardest things for me, picking just two bowls. After you pick your bowl (s) you pay for them and then head outside where volunteers wash and dry your bowl.
Local restaurants have brought soup and they do a great job of heating up the soup and setting it out. All you need to do is decide which one (or two if you bought two bowls) you’d like. They’ll fill your bowl and there’s also bread and water. They’re putting new soups out throughout the event as they run out. There are also musician’s playing and tables set up for you to sit at and enjoy your soup.
Be sure you check out the silent auction of celebrity bowls. I always enjoy walking through there and seeing what people have created. When you’re ready to leave the ladies at the Bowl clean up & Exit will wrap your bowl for you.
This year they also set up a Grab & Go station out side so if you couldn’t wait in line you could get a bowl there. I’m not sure whether you also got some soup but it was kind of like a sup rise bag grab thing.
Here’s some info I stole off their website.
The Austin Empty Bowl Project (AEBP) was the first of its kind in Texas, founded in 1997 by Kit Adams, the owner of ClayWays Pottery Studio & Gallery. Each year, AEBP has grown in participation by both donors and attendees and, with the help of our generous community, we have raised more than $ 421,000!
Potters from all over Central Texas donate bowls of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Thirty restaurants and bakeries donate delicious soups and breads, while musicians donate their time and talent to entertain us. Then, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, friends and families come together to purchase a bowl for $ 15, have it filled with soup, and enjoy the music. The bowl is yours to keep, as a reminder of those whose bowls are empty. The proceeds go to the Capital Area Food Bank to help sponsor the Kids Café Program. Kids Café provides a safe, nurturing place where children receive a hot, nutritious dinner, as well as help with homework.
A great cause and a really fun event.