OLD TOWN — This weekend, the 2014 Sausage King of Chicago will be crowned atop a throne with scepter in hand.
The coronation will be part of SausageFest Chicago, which will feature some of the city's top butchers serving up unique takes on the classic encased meat.
Participating butchers at the Old Town event will include Paulina Meat Market, serving their bratwurst; Bobak’s Sausage Company, grilling Polish sausage; and Bari, bringing authentic Italian and Barese sausages. Chicago's Dog House will serve alligator sausage and Haute Sausage will offer Southern-African-inspired dogs.
Other participating butchers include Gilbert's Sausage Company and Kaiser Tiger. Dia De Los Tamales will be serving vegan and vegetarian options.
If the sausage offerings aren't enough, knights from Medieval Times will be dueling twice a day all weekend.
The festival will take place at St. Michael's Church in Old Town, 1633 N. Cleveland Ave., Friday through Sunday and will also include a performance by The Verve Pipe.
The Verve Pipe headlines the festival Friday at 8:30 p.m. and local songwriter Michael McDermott is set to play Saturday at 8 p.m.
On Sunday the fest goes country featuring a lineup of four country artists closed out by Jacob Martin Band.
Those hoping for a chance to be crowned Sausage King need to sign up to be a contestant at sausagekingchicago.com.
Fundraising from the competition will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
Over the past three years, the Sausage King competition has collected over $25,000 for various nonprofits.
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