The second annual Summer Showdown is geared to intersect the sights, sounds and tastes of a warm Southern weekend.

Bull-riding, live country music from Charlie Robison and a two-day chili cook-off will pack the North Texas State Fairgrounds, with riders and cooks competing for prizes.

The bull riding and Robison concert are Saturday’s headliners. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit North Texas State Fair Asso­cia­tion, which gives up to $50,000 a year in scholarships and donations to youth programs.

The first Summer Showdown went well enough to justify a second.

“It was a successful event — it made money,” said Glenn Carlton, the association’s executive director. “But we’re doing the event differently this year. We’re sticking to what we know how to do.”

This means the bull riders are an addition that last year’s showdown didn’t have, and that the evening is spotlighting Robison alone, rather than a musical lineup.

“This is more like a night at the fair, and they are generally more successful,” Carlton said.

The current bull-riding roster has more than 20 riders, competing for a total of $3,000 in prizes — plus an extra $1,000 bonus available for the winner of a special bonus round. Two riders of note are Brian Wooley of Fort Worth, who has qualified for the Professional Bull Riders finals four times, and Victor Petty, 47, of Alpine, who falls outside the sport’s general 18-to-30 age range.

The roster also includes three competing riders from Brazil — and the event will include an appearance by famed Brazilian rider Guilherme Marchi, who’s first in the 2008 Built Ford Tough Series Standings. He won’t be riding, but will make an appearance, and is bringing three bulls that will be used in the night’s competition.

“He is in the league for the Professional Bull Riders world championship, and their million-dollar bonus, and we will introduce him to the crowd,” Carlton said.

Charlie Robison’s appearance comes with a history. In 2005, the country singer and Nashville Idol judge performed at the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo after the Randy Rogers Band was forced to cancel on very short notice, because of an illness. At the time, Robison, husband of Dixie Chick Emily Robison, was on tour in Minnesota with his wife’s group when he got a call.

“He saw the bind we were in, got on the phone and got his band,” Carlton said. “It was one of the best Friday nights we ever had. That’s an entertainer that went above and beyond. He always delivers a good crowd and puts on a nice show. He’s kind of a friend of the North Texas State Fair Association.”

The chili cook-off currently offers “red pepper” and “green pepper” sponsorship opportunities of $250 and $500, with special items and tickets available for sponsors. The cook-off itself is expected to include at least 30 entries made from scratch, on site, and is trickier to win than outsiders may think.

Contest participant and promoter Delora Goin explained the five criteria for competitive chili: color, consistency, smell, taste and aftertaste.

Entries must be made of only two visible ingredients — meat and gravy. “Fillers,” such as beans or jalapenos, aren’t allowed. Whatever spices are used, she said, must be crushed and blended in so that they aren’t something you see floating around.

Routinely, she added, these contests use judges who aren’t chili cooks themselves.

“We had a good turnout last year, and we’re looking forward to a bigger turnout this year,” she said.

This weekend’s cooks, Goin said, will compete for points they can accumulate to make them eligible to compete in the annual Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cookoff. The first-place winner this weekend receives 4 points, second place receives 3 and third place receives 2. Fourth- through 10th-place winners receive 1 point.

The very best chili, Goin said, happens later.

“After it’s all over, you mix four or five of the best ones together,” she said. “And that’s your best chili, technically.”

GREG RUSSELL can be reached at 940-566-6861. His e-mail address is grussell@dentonrc.com.  

What: Bull riding, live music from Charlie Robison and a chili cook-off

Where: North Texas State Fairgrounds, 2217 N. Carroll Blvd.

When: Gates open at 6 p.m. Saturday. Bull riding begins at 7:30 p.m., and the Charlie Robison concert is 9:30 p.m. Chili cook-off is 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Details: Saturday tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for children ages 12 to 7, and free for children ages 6 and under. Chili cook-off entry fee is $20 per person on either day. Pets and coolers are not allowed. Call 940-387-2632 or visit www.summershowdown.net .