WILMINGTON — Wilmingtonians are adamant about it: The banana split was invented right here in 1907.

Folks in Latrobe, Pa., also claim their town as the banana split’s birthplace three years earlier, but Wilmingtonians will have none of it. To prove their point, they stage an annual Banana Split Festival, coming up Friday and Saturday in Denver Williams Memorial Park.

According to legend, Ernest Hazard, proprietor of a downtown Wilmington restaurant, held a competition to boost business. He challenged his employees to come up with the most interesting dish they could using the ingredients on hand. In the end, the story goes, Mr. Hazard himself won with the now-famous dessert.

One of the festival’s more creative attractions is the Banana Split Masters Competition, in which local chefs create their own renditions of the banana split. They’re supposed to jazz things up, not go traditional, but they must use ice cream and at least four of the seven traditional ingredients or flavors: banana, pineapple, strawberry, chocolate, whipped cream, nuts and cherries.

One memorable creation was Kerry Steed’s winner in 2009. Proprietor of Generations Pizzeria in Wilmington, Steed created what he dubbed the “PB Split” — the Pizza Banana Split, a banana split that looked just like a pizza (see recipe at right).

In full pizza chef regalia, he served it in triangular slices using a spatula at a table with a red-and-white checkered tablecloth.

He won the grand prize — and never entered again.

“We retired on top,” he said. “How could we top the pizza banana split?”

This year’s Banana Split Masters Competition will be from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday.

For more information about the festival, visit bananasplitfestival.com.