PORTAGE PARK — A hot dog fest is coming to the heart of Six Corners, bringing live music, an artisan market and a hot dog parade to the business district to kick off summer.
The inaugural Windy City Hot Dog Fest is scheduled for noon-10 p.m. June 4-5 on Milwaukee Avenue between Cuyler Avenue and Irving Park Road. The event is being organized by the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce.
Local businesses will compete to see who has the best hot dog, chamber leaders said in their most recent newsletter. Attendees will judge and pick a winner.
Well-known hot dog joints — including Byron’s, a North Side staple, and Chicago’s Dog House — are scheduled to participate, but the chamber is looking for more vendors. Hot dog businesses, artists and merchants who want to be part of the fest can apply online.
Aaron Wolfson, owner of Chicago’s Dog House in Lincoln Park, is bringing exotic hot dogs to the fest, including a rattlesnake and rabbit dog and an alligator dog called Chance the Snapper.
Chicago’s Dog House opened in 2009 and serves an array of gourmet sausages. Wolfson hopes to expand his clientele and give Northwest Siders a new hot dog experience at the Six Corners fest.
“It will pique their culinary curiosity, for sure, and it’s something exotic to try,” Wolfson said. “You will never know it’s rattlesnake.”
But if you aren’t feeling the exotic meat, the joint’s popular Midway Monster dog — topped with Colby cheese, giardiniera, bacon and barbecue sauce — and the Wild Boar Bratwurst with sauerkraut will be for sale, as well as classic hot dogs. Vegan dogs will also be available, the owner said.
“We want to bring more awareness to what we serve here in Lincoln Park, and [we] are hoping to get some new clientele,” he said. “It’s a hot dog fest — we have to be there.”
Bands scheduled to perform at the two-day fest include tropical music band Chicago Latin Groove Band, Chicago-based horn band The Business and Kashmir, a Led Zeppelin tribute band.
The chamber plans to share updates to the fest on social media as more vendors and musicians are secured.
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