Thank You for Another Amazing Hot Dog Day!
What a day, Sterling! Thank you to everyone who joined us for Hot Dog Day 2026 and helped make another year of this longtime downtown tradition a huge success!
For another year, we sold out — with approximately 7,000 hot dogs served throughout downtown Sterling. Many of our cooking sites went through their supplies in record time!
An event like Hot Dog Day takes a community, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who makes it possible. Thank you to our cooking sites, volunteers, sponsors, participating downtown businesses and organizations, activity hosts, suppliers, and everyone who helped behind the scenes. Most of all, thank you to the thousands of people who came downtown, enjoyed a hot dog (or two!), shopped, played, visited with friends and neighbors, and continued a Sterling tradition that has been bringing our community together since the 1970s.
Save the Date for 2027!
Hot Dog Day returns on the first Friday of August — Friday, August 6, 2027!
Mark your calendars and plan to join us downtown as we continue one of Sterling’s favorite summertime traditions. We can’t wait to do it all again!
A summertime favorite since 1976*ish, the tradition continues each year on the 1st Friday of August!
Featuring 25¢ hot dogs, chips and bottled water at various locations throughout the downtown, along with sidewalk sales, a car wash, fun fair and more!
The grilling begins at 11:00 AM continues until sold out or 2:00 PM, whichever occurs first and will vary by site.
Our 2026 Cooking Sites:
Air Play Espresso & Bakery
115 E. 3rd Street
Champs on Light Street
9 E. 3rd Street
County Market
210 W. 3rd Street
Golden Key Gifts & Candle Co.
702 W. 4th Street
Sterling Fire Department
@ Main Station
110 W. 5th Street
Sterling Federal Bank
110 E. 4th St.
Sterling Police Department
@ City of Sterling City Hall
212 3rd Avenue (south parking lot)
Thanks to County Market, Sterling Walmart Supercenter (#891), the Walmart Distribution Center, CGH Medical Center and Grummert’s Hardware for helping with our 2026 supplies. Along with additional event support from Sterling Federal Bank!
2026 Hot Dog Day T-Shirt
Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary and one of Downtown Sterling’s favorite traditions with the official 2026 Hot Dog Day T-shirt!
Featuring a vintage-inspired, one-color design, this year’s shirt commemorates both our nation’s semiquincentennial and the annual Hot Dog Day celebration.
Pre-orders have now closed. LIMITED SIZES AND QUANTITIES WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE EVENT for $15 each.
Pre-Order Pick Up and Sales will be at the Sterling Main Street office, 15 E. 3rd St., while supplies last.
Available Sizes
Youth Small through Youth XL
Adult Small through Adult 3XL
Pick-Up Information
All pre-ordered shirts will be available for pickup during Hot Dog Day on Friday, August 7, 2026.
A limited quantity of shirts will be available for purchase during the event, but sizes cannot be guaranteed. Pre-ordering is the best way to ensure you get the size you want.
Thank you for supporting Sterling Main Street and helping us celebrate another great Hot Dog Day tradition!
Thank you to our 2026 T-shirt Sponsors!
Air Play Espresso & Bakery • Al & Leda’s • Brink’s • CGH Medical Center • Climbing Cliffs • Coco’s Prom & Homecoming • Crafted Roots • D&E Furniture • Golden Key Gifts • JJM Printing • Kurt & Brian Properties • McCue Tax & Accounting • Rock Star Donuts • Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce • Sauk Valley Bank • Solstice Salon & Spa • Strategic Steps Counseling • Sterling Federal Bank • Sterling Fence • Sterling Theater • Suds, LLC • Sunflowers from Heaven • TCS • Tevin’s Tribe
Click on the links in the map below for all the who, what and whens for all the happenings! Details are being added daily!
- FREE Ice Cream Cups at CGH Vision Center (while supplies last)
- Shoppes at Grandon Plaza specials, guest vendors & More!
- Amber + Smoke
- Bon Baby Boutique
- Leigh Alan Design
- Pirate Mom Soapworks
- Still Story Kitchen
- The Midwest Mercantile
- Lolita’s Crafting Creations
- Carolann’s Creations
- Riley Johnson Music
- Popcorn TO GO at the Sterling Theater
- Main Squeeze in the City Hall Parking Lot!
- Sterling Moose Lodge 726 with kids games in the City Hall Parking lot.
- Insane Beer Sale at The Rusty Fox Alehouse – from 11 AM-4PM
- Pick up your Hot Dog Day t-shirts at the Sterling Main Street office.
- $5 Hair Tinsel at Educators of Beauty
- Khloe’s Lemonade Stand at the Factory Pub-n-Grub
- Plinko game and Swag at Sterling Federal Bank and special guest drink vendor Crazy Pop
- Chili Cheese Fries at Lisa’s Brickhouse! The perfect side!
- $1 slices of Hot Dog Pizza at Dunk’s because, why not?!? It’s Hot Dog Day!
- Stop by Fringe and Co. and check out our racks outside. All items are priced $20 down to $5. All jeans $40. Deals you don’t want to miss!
Check back often as the list of fun just keeps growing!
FREE children’s games, activities and inflatables
from 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Sterling Marketplace
111 W. 2nd St, Sterling, IL
Thanks to our friends at the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce for coordination of the fun fair.
Sponsored by: 
2026 Games & activities hosted by:
Amazing Grace Church • Autism Center of Illinois-Sauk Valley • Castor Home Nursing • CGH Health Foundation • Cub Scout Pak #305 • Culver’s of Rock Falls • Elevate Youth Center • Faith Baptist Church • Girl Scouts of Northern IL • Healthcare Plus • Hope Cancer Wellness Center • Kreider Services, Inc. • Reagan Mass Transit District / Whiteside County Transit • ROE #47 • Sauk Valley Bank • Sauk Valley CPR • Sophie’s Cafe • St. Paul Lutheran Church • State Farm Mike Sprague • State Line Solar • Sterling Federal Bank • Sterling-Rock Falls Family YMCA • SVCC Impact • Tri-County Opportunities Council • U of I Extension • VeriFacts, LLC • YWCA of the Sauk Valley
Special thanks to the SVCC IMPACT Program Volunteers for their assistance throughout the downtown!
Your online map to all the activities!
Details are being added daily!! Check back often and save this link to your home screen to navigate the day of the event!
Hot Dog Day Highlights
The History (and Mystery) of Hot Dog Day
This exact year that Hot Dog Day began remains a mystery, but our investigation to date as uncovered a newspaper article from June of 1976 highlighting the Downtown Sterling Merchant group hosting “Ball Park Days.” We do not know if this was the first year for that event, just the earliest reference to it we’ve found to date. We do know that Ball Park Days is what evolved into what we now know as Hot Dog Day. Having been established in 2008, Sterling Main Street began taking on a larger role in the event’s planning in the 20-teens, and now serves as its organizational lead.
Join us for a mural treasure hunt. Thanks to our Mural Committee members and the Sterling Kiwanis, learn about the history of the murals and our ongoing efforts to preserve and restore them. Stop by the “Sterling Hydraulic Co.,” the “Lady Zouaves,” the “Ringling Brother Circus Fire,” and “The Sterling ‘Secret Six’,” to learn more! (See locations on map below)
