Belly Up: Brat blowout

It’s Memorial Day weekend again—that time when the country stops to honor those who’ve served and died in military service, and Madison drops everything and tries to eat 200,000 brats over the course of four days. That’s right, the World’s Largest Brat Fest is back from May 22 to 25 at Alliant Energy Center’s Willow Island. What started modestly 27 years ago with a single Weber grill in the Metcalfe’s Sentry parking lot has now become a massive charity fundraiser—last year raising more than $100,000—and the unequivocal last word on the term “sausage party.” Not surprisingly, the food choices are limited, and basically come down to two options: a brat (leaded or veggie) or a hot dog. If day after day of tube-steak consumption isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other activities that don’t involve elbowing your neighbor for a spoonful of sauerkraut. Kick back and take in one of the 50 musical acts playing over the weekend, try your hand at a game of chance on the midway, or attempt to hold down all those nitrates after a spin on the tilt-a-whirl.

Fatsometer: 10. It’s true that the Madison Marathon finishes on the Brat Fest grounds, but no amount of people running 26.2 miles could ever offset the caloric damage done here.