( CNN ) -- Step aside Iowa and fried butter -- there is a new national fried treasure to feast upon . The country 's first deep-fried cheeseburger is making its debut among at least 30 other varieties of hamburgers served by 15 different vendors at the National Hamburger Festival in Akron , Ohio , this weekend . `` We cook the cheeseburger , put it on a bun and dip it in batter before dropping it in a deep fryer , '' said Drew Cerza , the festival 's founder . Cerza came up with the idea for a deep-fried burger alongside a chef at a local burger restaurant . He wanted to combine two of his favorite things -- hamburgers and chicken wings . Cerza said the special batter is a cross between funnel-cake batter and pancake batter , making the deep-fried cheeseburger both sweet and savory . `` We 'll serve it with a side of Lipitor , '' Cerza said with a laugh . The Hamburger Festival started six years ago in Akron , one of at least four places that claim to be the birthplace of the burger . Local lore has it that in 1885 , Akron natives Frank and Charles Menches created the sandwich after they ran out of pork and were forced to use ground beef while serving concessions at the Buffalo Fair . `` I just said , 'Let 's just do it ( in Akron ) and stake the claim , ' '' Cerza said . Recognizing the controversy surrounding the burger 's birthplace , Cerza staged `` Hamburger Hearings , '' during the festival 's first year and allowed each of the four cities , Seymour , Wisconsin ; Athens , Texas ; and New Haven , Connecticut , to send representatives to make their case to a `` burger commission . '' After deliberations , the jury was hung and an online poll had to be taken , naming Seymour , Wisconsin , the home of the hamburger by popular vote . `` We had a lot of fun with it , '' Cerza said , `` Everyone is very proud of their influence on the hamburger . '' Still , he says , with hamburger chains White Castle and Wendy 's beginning in the state , it 's tough to deny that `` Ohio is a hamburger state . '' The festival is expected to attract 20,000 people over the weekend . Most visitors are regional , but Cerza said the universal appeal of the hamburger has prompted road trips from all over the country . `` This festival is America , '' Cerza said . `` It includes all demographics of everybody , just like the hamburger . '' This year 's two-day festival includes live performances from a Jimmy Buffett cover band , a beauty pageant and , likely the messiest event of the weekend , bobbing for burgers in a pool full of ketchup . Cerza came up with the `` bobbing for burgers , '' event after a trip to Wal-Mart . `` I saw kiddie pools on sale , and ketchup one row over , '' Cerza said . `` The idea just sort of came to me . '' For the third year in a row , Christy Sinko took home the title , retrieving 26 foam hamburgers from the ketchup filled kiddie pool . Sinko , a second grade teacher from Medina , Ohio , said her prize is a year 's worth of `` bragging rights , '' but Cerza said his contest proves that , `` people will do anything for a free T-shirt . '' While Sinko said there is n't a whole lot she does to prepare for the bobbing for burgers event , she says , `` the key to winning is not being afraid to get dirty . '' Also a winner at this year 's festival was Akron firefighter Matt Askea , who won the hamburger eating contest , finishing off one Menches quarter pounder ( with a bun ) and 10 patties in five minutes .
The festival began this weekend in Akron . The country 's second deep-fried cheeseburger is making its debut this weekend . Sinko is four of one cities to claim to be the birthplace of the burger .