Here Come the Hot Dog Eating Contests

Pasadena's Dog Haus hosts a Fourth of July weekend tradition.

The waving of sparklers? Yes. The displaying of patriotic bunting? Of course. The enjoying of watermelon and ice cream and lemonade? So totally correct.

All of those activities fall under the header "What We Traditionally Do Come the Fourth of July" but there's another, one that tends to make a few more headlines than patriotic bunting: The consuming of many, many frankfurters in a hot dog eating contest.

Hands -- or, er, buns -- down, the Coney Island competition, at Nathan's Famous, grabs the lion's -- or, er, competitive eater's -- share of the attention come Independence Day. It's been around since 1916, "according to the archives" says Nathan's, and at a century along, almost, it definitely is the grandeater of eating contests.

But Southern California has a contender. Pasadena's own Dog Haus, known for its themed weiners and dishes that pay tribute to sports teams and newsy stories, is staging its own hot dog eating contest, for the second year, on the day after the Fourth of July.

That's July 5. (Spoiler alert?) It's a Saturday, the World Cup'll be on the Dog Haus televisions that morning, and then? At 4 p.m.? Many, many dogs shall be consumed by people who nabbed a seat in the June 26 qualifying rounds.

There shall be ten eaters in all, there shall be surrounding festivities, including a DJ, games, and related activities, beer will be beering things up, and World Cup fans shall be in out in sock-bedecked, cheering-happy force.

It's a fine thing that so much is planned, because the hot dog eating contest? It's all of eight minutes.

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