The North East Dog Festival to provide platform for charities
The North East Dog Festival has announced this week the three charities that will be hosting dog shows as part of the popular family festival. The festival, which takes place Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September at Northumberland College’s Kirkley Hall Campus in Ponteland is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors and their canine companions.
Charity dog shows are an integral part of the weekend and the festival provides a platform for them to raise money and educate visitors about their causes.
Directors Rebecca Ashworth Earle and Dawn Oliver Doyle commented; “When we designed the festival we always knew we wanted to provide the infrastructure for charities to run dog shows and raise funds at no cost to them; the festival welcomes thousands of visitors every year and what better way to incorporate not only the opportunity for people to show off their dogs, but also support charities in the process. This year we are very lucky to have the support of local business Spotty Dog Design, who is sponsoring all three dog shows. This enables us to provide prizes and hundreds of gorgeous rosettes for entrants”.
Charlotte Smithson of Spotty Dog Design, commented “This year we are super excited to not only be supporting one, but three amazing charities. One of the three charities is very close to our hearts, as that is where we rescued one of the spotty dogs, Rosie from. These charities all do such amazing things for their animals, giving them all another chance to find their forever homes”.
For the first time at the festival the wonderful team from the Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter, who last year celebrated 125 years of saving the lives of animals in the North East will be hosting a dog show.
Chris Bray, Chief Executive at Newcastle Dog & Cat Shelter commented “We are delighted to be involved with the North East Dog Festival which is so very well supported by the local community. As a shelter that has been around for over 100 years, we are keen to share the message of our mission – to save lives in the North East. Working with the festival enables us to share our message and capture new supporters, volunteers and shelter advocates”.
Dog show classes will run all weekend and classes can be found online. Tickets for the festival are on sale now via the website www.northeastdogfestival.com
Trade stand applications are also being taken until the end of June.