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The 'first-ever competitive eating contest between goats' comes to NYC in July
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Hannah Frishberg
Published Jun 26, 2025
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Alison Ettinger-DeLong / Courtesy Riverside Park Conservancy
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Jun 26, 2025
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The “first-ever competitive eating contest between goats” is coming to West Harlem next month.
Goatham 2025: The Great Goat Graze-Off will be emceed by none other than George Shea, host of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and chair of Major League Eating. The organization oversees all sanctioned professional eating contests, including the annual Independence Day event.
Participating in the Graze-Off are Romeo, Mallomar, Butterball, Kash and Rufus, the five-goat herd currently used by the Riverside Park Conservancy to help eat away invasive plants, including poison ivy, at West 143rd Street.
Mallomar is competing in Goatham 2025: The Great Goat Graze-Off.
Max Chan / Courtesy Riverside Park Conservancy
Although Major League Eating once hosted a cross-species bun-eating competition pitting humans against elephants (“It was a horrific failure for humanity, we lost so badly” said Shea), this will be the group’s first-ever animal-only competition.
"We are very excited to get into this because in my view, it opens up the entire animal kingdom for our franchise," said Shea.
As for the reasoning for the event itself, it is being “held to celebrate the eating prowess of the goats and to kick off a new season of ridding Riverside Park of invasive plants," Shea said.
“I expect it to be as exciting as a human competitive eating contest,” Shea said. “I’ve seen goats eat weeds, and their ability is remarkable. It is similar to a Joey Chestnut, who is less interested in savoring the flavor than he is in productivity, of getting the food down.”
Each goat will get a “very grand” introduction from Shea, who estimated the competition will last about one “fairly dramatic” minute.
The first goat to finish the set quantity of plants will be declared the winner.
Shea said one goat is favored to win, but he refused to reveal which.
“I don’t want to tip the scales for any wagering that might be happening,” he said, while noting that some goats are “noticeably better than others and eat faster.”
Profiles of the contestants are available on the Conservancy’s website.
Over the five summers it's been staffing goats, the Riverside Park Conservancy has put on other events for them, including a popularity contest in which New Yorkers voted on which goat was the G.O.A.T. (the winner was awarded a wreath, which it promptly consumed). But it's never hosted an eating competition.
The free event will take place on Saturday, July 12 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the lawn north of Ten Mile Playground, at West 151st Street and the West Side Highway. RSVPs are requested.
In addition to the main event, there'll be a performance by NYC-based New Orleans-style brass band Nice Brass.
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Hannah Frishberg
Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].
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