What is DogFest at Loseley Park I hear you ask?
It’s a festival for dogs of course! We visited DogFest at Loseley Park in Surrey in April. I was lucky enough to get a pair of free tickets through work to attend the event. They would have been around £20 each to buy. So with no plans for the weekend, we set off to Loseley Park to see what the day had to offer.
We arrived a few hours after the opening time. This meant some people had left and we managed to get a parking space in quite a good place. The parking was £7.50 for the day, and there was plenty available. Top tip: Take a photo of the marker nearest to your car so you can find your way back to your car at the end of the day.
What is at dogfest?
There’s a fair few things to do at dogfest, all dog related of course! There are a number of stalls and traders selling products for your pampered pooches. These include dog leads, dog food, outfits and many more things.
There were a number of dog agility sessions throughout the day, as well as an area for your own dog to have a go. There are fun dog shows throughout the day, there is a small fee to enter these.
As well as this there were demonstrations from dog behaviourists and trainers, and an action arena with demonstrations. There was also the ‘big dog walk’ on twice during the day, offering a 2km or 4km walk around the beautiful grounds.
If the weather had of been better there would have been a large paddling pool for dogs too, due to the persistent rain in the lead up to the event it was decided not to have this there.
What did we enjoy about DogFest?
There seemed to be a good number of traders and stalls available to have a look around. All the stalls we visited were run by very friendly people. There were lots of photo opportunities for dogs, and the stall holders tried to have fun activities such as ball pits for our four legged friends.
We enjoyed watching the agility sessions, while Darcie played with a gorgeous puppy with just as much energy as her. There were a number of caterers available with a good choice of options including vegan and gluten free.
We also loved the Butchers dog food photo booth, the team were amazing but it seemed as though they had given up on the funny props by the time we got there. Darcie did get a free box of meaty treats though!
What didn’t we enjoy about DogFest?
There wasn’t a great deal to do beyond looking around the stalls, although it seemed as though there was a lot on. The have-a-go activities such as the barn hunt and the agility arena had long queues. We entered one of the fun dog shows, and it had so many participants we were waiting for a really long time for the judges to come around. In the end we ended up leaving because it was taking so long for them to get round to everyone.
Nobody can control the weather, and in this case I bet the organisers wished they could. The ground was very muddy in places, but the organisers had placed hay down to try and help. There was however no shelter should the heavens decide to open. We were lucky with where we were parked but we did see others on social media saying they had to be towed out of the muddy car park. Unfortunately, the next day, the event had to be cancelled due to the weather.
Would we go again?
Yes, i’m pretty certain we would go again next year. It was well organised and Darcie had a great day out. She was asleep in the car before we had driven out the car park. If the weather were better it would be great to set up on a picnic blanket and see the activities taking place.
2.5/5
