Joey Chestnut, USA Soldiers Hot Dog Eating Contest Schedule, Info amid Nathan's Ban

Joey Chestnut will take part in a competitive eating event featuring hot dogs on July 4, although it won't be the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

After annually appearing in the Nathan's contest over the course of 19 years and winning the competition in each of the past eight years, Chestnut was banned from it. According to Steve Cuozzo of the New York Post, the 40-year-old wasn't permitted to appear in the 2024 contest due to his partnership deal to represent Impossible Foods.

Impossible Foods, which specializes in plant-based foods, is a competitor of Nathan's.

While Chestnut won't be competing at Coney Island, he'll be participating in a separate hot dog-eating contest on the Fourth of July.

He's currently set to appear at the "Pop Goes the Fort" celebration at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas (h/t Cedar Attanasio of the Associated Press). 15,000 people are expected to attend the event, which will also feature fireworks and several musical performances.

After setting a record with 76 hot dogs at the Nathan's contest in 2021, he won't be competing against fellow competitive eaters on July 4. Instead, Chestnut will be going up against four U.S. soldiers. He'll attempt to surpass the combined efforts of the soldiers, while the contest will have a five-minute duration compared to the 10-minute time limit for the Nathan's Contest.

Chestnut gave a prediction for his opponents, although he appears to be confident that he'll be able to surpass their total.

"If they [each] break ten, that'd be pretty good," he said, per Attanasio.

Although the celebration will begin at 3 p.m. ET on July 4, Chestnut confirmed in a post on X that the hot dog contest will specifically start at 5 p.m. ET. He also revealed that the event will be available to watch on his YouTube channel.