Joey Chestnut will go for a fourth straight title on July 4 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Sweikert Alley, Nathan’s Famous
1310 Surf Ave. at Stillwell Ave.
Sunday, July 4, free, 12 noon
Admission: free
212-627-5766
www.nathansfamous.com
www.ifoce.com
Since 1916, Nathan’s has been sponsoring a hot dog eating contest in which men and women from all over the world compete to see who can devour the most hot dogs (and buns) in twelve minutes, now reduced to ten. Each contestant has his or her own method; some dunk the bread in water before swallowing, while others just stuff the slimy dogs down their throats. After six years of dominance by Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut has come up big the last three years, setting a new world record of sixty-eight dogs in 2009, keeping the Coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt where it belongs. (Chestnut has also held records in asparagus, chicken wings, grilled cheese sandwiches, gyoza, horseshoe sandwiches, jalapeno poppers, Krystal Burgers, Pizza Hut P’Zones, pork ribs, pulled pork, and sausage and cheese Kolaches.) Unfortunately, Kobayashi has pulled out of this year’s event, bringing to an end this heated annual rivalry. The festivities begin at 10:00 with a performance by Xclusive with Sonni Dey and DJ 80HD, followed by acrobats, magic acts, trampoline performers, and rapper (and longtime contest participant) Eric “Badlands” Booker, with the competition set to start at noon.