Ten minutes. Hundreds of hot dogs. Ninety-degree weather.
These are the conditions participants will face during The Swamp Restaurant’s first Hot Dog Eating Contest on Friday.
“Every Fourth of July on Coney Island, they have the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest,” said Nicholas Smith, general manager. “We wanted to bring that here since there’s no other event like this in Gainesville.”
Contestants will line up at 2 p.m. on Friday at the restaurant’s front lawn to eat as many hot dogs and buns as they can in 10 minutes, Smith said.
Restaurant servers will act as assistants, feeding participants more hot dogs, water or anything else they need to bring home the gold. Managers will keep count of how many hot dogs and buns each person eats.
The winner will be awarded a silver plate with his or her name engraved into it, $100 in cash and a $50 gift card for the restaurant.
There will also be giveaways and special awards like the “Crowd Favorite,” awarded to the participant who has the most people cheering for him.
Smith said he hopes the special prizes will draw more people to the event and help it grow in its first year.
“We wanted everybody to get something for eating,” he said, “and not just stomachaches.”
So far the contest has about seven registered participants, Smith said.
A form is available on The Swamp’s Facebook page to register for the event and can be submitted in person or by emailing it to swampoffice2@aol.com. It costs $10 to register, which will go up to $20 the day of the event.
Jessica Richards, a 23-year-old psychology junior, will be working the event as both a server and manager.
“I think it’ll draw people in having something to watch rather than seeing something on TV,” Richards said.
The restaurant, located at 1642 W. University Ave., will have normal business hours on the holiday, allowing people to come eat and watch the event.
The Swamp will also be giving customers the option to order from a special Fourth of July menu consisting of four types of hot dogs, potato salad, BBQ beans and more, Smith said.
“There’s nothing more American than hot dogs,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 7/3/2014 under the headline "The Swamp to hold first hot dog eating contest"]
