Today at 12:00 p.m. ET, the annual Fourth of July Nathan's hot dog eating contest emanates live from Coney Island. The event can be live streamed for free here.

An Independence Day tradition continues as Joey "Jaws" Chestnut goes for his eighth straight hot dog eating crown in the 98th installment of the hot dog eating contest in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Fireworks are sure to fly on this star spangled holiday as individuals attempt to eat as many hot dogs as possible - including the buns -- in 10 minutes and must keep them down for the duration of the contest or they will be disqualified. Contestants are allowed to also dip the hot dogs in water.

Chestnut comes in as the favorite to repeat as winner of the Fourth of July contest and looks to even beat the record for number of hot dogs devoured at the event, which he set last year by stomaching 69 frankfurters on the United States' birthday.

The rest of the field includes such eager eaters as Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie, Erik "The Red" Denmark, Brian "Dud Light" Dudzinski, Jeff "The Beast Man" Butler, Tim "Eater X" Janus, Adrian "The Rabbit" Morgan, Marcos "The Monster" Owen, Eric "Badlands" Booker, Sean "Flash" Gordon, Yasir Salem, Aaron "The A-Train" Osthoff, Juan "More Bite" Rodriguez, Pablo Martinez, Ronnie Hartman, Colin Shirlow and Sgt. Horacio Chanyau.

Before the fireworks and barbecues get under way to celebrate the birth of America, take some time, sit back and enjoy what makes this country so great: having the freedom to watch Americans stuff their faces to see who can eat the most hot dogs in a ten-minute span on the Fourth of July.