Nathan's Famous 4th of July hot dog eating contest kicks off soon in NYC

CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (PIX11) – Soon, 29 competitive eaters will take on the sport's biggest stage on Coney Island to eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes.

It's a hot day in Coney Island, where a crowd of thousands will first watch reigning champion woman's eater Miki Sudo try to defend her title hard-won with 39.5 hot dogs.

The women's competition will kick off first at 11 a.m., followed by the men's at 12:30 p.m. Both will be streamed on ESPN and will rerun at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The celebration could again be plagued with storms this year, as the forecast for the Fourth of July shows hot and humid weather with a chance of scattered showers.

This year, fan favorite Joey Chestnut will not return to the all-beef stage after winning by a whopping 13 hot dogs and buns last year. The Major League Eating great will instead compete against soldiers in El Paso, Texas.

It's a loss so great even New York City Mayor Eric Adams weighed in.

"Stop being such weenies," Adams said of Chestnut and the league on X. "Let's find a way to squash this beef and bring back the champ for another 4th of July at Coney Island!"

But the Fourth of July staple still promises great competition and a slew of accomplished eaters, including last year's No. 2 in the men's division, Geoffrey Esper, currently ranked behind Chestnut as the No. 2 eater in the world.

Esper ate 49 hot dogs at last year's competition, but his all-time best is 51, according to a spokesperson for Major League Eating.

Esper will face James Webb, who recently broke a record by eating 350 donut holes in eight minutes, and Patrick Bertoletti, whose personal best is the highest in the competition at 55 hot dogs.

Also joining the ranks is Gideon Oji, the kale-eating champion of the world, and Nick Wehry, an accomplished eater who recently got engaged to women's champ Sudo.

In the women's category, Sudo is nine times undefeated, but Mayoi "Ebimayo" Ebihara is on her heels with a personal best of 33.5 hot dogs and other eating accomplishments, like eating 116 pieces of sushi in 16 minutes.