Ballard’s biggest neighborhood event of the year is coming up this weekend. The 35th annual Ballard SeafoodFest draws 60,000 people to downtown Ballard for salmon, arts & crafts, music and other events.
New this year is a hot dog eating contest sponsored by Dante’s Inferno Dogs. At 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, head to the community stage at Bergen Place to see how many dogs get put away. You can still sign up for the competition at Snacks! on Ballard Ave. Cost is $20 for a seat at the table and a t-shirt.
If hot dog eating is too tame for you, how about the lutefisk eating contest? Last year Einer Johannsen smashed the record by slurping down two pounds of the stinky Scandinavian staple in just 7 seconds! “I poured it down like a pitcher of Rainier Beer,” Johannsen told us after the contest with a big smile on this face. We’ll see if someone can top that this year.
A long-running tradition is the mouth-watering alder-smoked salmon ($9) cooked up by master griller Warren Aakervik. By the end of the weekend, the crew will serve 2,000 pounds of salmon!
The 9th Annual Couture Coverall Contest is Sunday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. on the community stage. Last year the winner came dressed as a woman from the Duwamish tribe in the 1800s, but we saw everything from four-legged contestants to some that were, er, showing a little more skin.
Stan Boreson, the king of Scandihoovian humor, kicks off the entertainment on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. and performs again on Sunday. The musical lineup for the main stage can be found here, the community stage entertainment here, and the family stage at Ballard Commons Park can be found here.