July 2008: D.C.’s First Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest Was a Blast!

Photo courtesy of William Rivas-Rivas

On Saturday, July 26, 2008 Compassion Over Killing, Sticky Fingers Bakery, and Tofurky teamed up to host D.C.'s first Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest! One of many events nationwide celebrating National Veggie Hot Dog Month, the contest included 34 contestants (meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans), 9 judges, over 300 Tofurky Franks and an enthusiastic crowd.

After a quick qualifying round, the 17 contestants who downed 2 Tofurky Franks the fastest made it to the final 8-minute all-you-can-eat contest—battling it out for the highly-coveted honor of being D.C.’s first Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion! The top three winners received gold, silver, and blue medallions, created using cookies from Sticky Fingers Bakery, plus a variety of others gifts. 

The event also included free samples of Tofurky Franks for the audience, and ten percent of the day’s sales from Sticky Fingers Bakery were donated to COK. 

We're grateful to all of our fantastic volunteers and contestants who helped make this event a fun-filled and incredibly memorable success!

A very special thanks to Tofurky for generously donating over 300 Tofurky Franks and Sticky Fingers Bakery for taking on the enormous task of cooking all of them.

Contestants arrive early for registration and to pick up their packets filled with pro-veg literature & coupons.

Chief Judge Allen Schubert reviews the rules and guidelines with the esteemed judges

Doron Petersan, co-owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery, always wondered what 300+ Tofurky Franks looked like...

An excited crowd eagerly waits for the games to begin!

And the first qualifying round begins...

“Red Line to Silverstein” takes on “Peter Swinger” hoping to make it to the final round.

“Jon The Crusher” finishes his first of two Tofurky Franks but is outpaced by “Lady J.”

Judge Jen declares “Monster Mouth” one of the winners in the qualifying round.

Kirsten Rosenberg, co-owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery, gets the crowd ready for the final round.

The final round begins, with 17 contestants including several women—from left to right “Turkish Apricot,” “Monster Mouth,” “Dag” and “Tofurky Libre”—eating to win to top veggie dog title. Photo courtesy of William Rivas-Rivas.

“Tofurky Libre’s” fan club was loud and proud! Photo courtesy of William Rivas-Rivas.

COK’s own summer intern, “M-Town,” chomps on a Tofurky Frank during the final round.

Veggie dog master of ceremony, Eric, prepare to announce who ate the most Tofurky Franks

And the winners are: “Invader” at 16 veggie dogs (center), “Raz” at 14 veggie dogs (left) and “Dag” at 8.5 veggie dogs (right). Photo courtesy of William Rivas-Rivas.

Click here to see more COK events.