The North East Dog Festival returns in September with brand-new activities

The North East Dog Festival is set to return next month, for a spectacular outdoor weekend.

The North East Dog Festival is an event which celebrates dogs, with activities, attractions, shopping and shows, all taking place over the jam-packed weekend.

The festival, which will take place at Northumberland College’s Kirkley Hall Campus in Ponteland on Saturday, September 4 and Sunday, September 3, will see brand-new activities for this year.

The five brand-new activities which have been announced for 2023, which includes UK Sniffer Dogs, Mantrailing, UtiMutt, Scent Hurdling and Petnanny.

The main arena of the festival will feature regular favourites, as well as a show from ‘The Ferret Man’, whose real name is Simon Whitehead, alongside his team of ferrets and dogs.

Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter will also be in attendance, and will host a giant rescue dog photograph and 1pm on both days of the festival, which will entail visitors who have rescued their furry pals from the shelter to join them in creating a huge photograph of rescued dogs.

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The Wellness Tipi, will host regular speakers, as well as people new to the festival, including Sarah Jones who is the founder of My Anxious Dog. Jones hopes to educate visitors on the #dogsinyellow movement.

There will be plenty of stalls for visitors to shop at, to buy their companion everything from a homemade dog treat to clothing, however there will also be stalls catered to the humans, including food and drink vendors.

Festival Directors Rebecca Ashworth Earle and Dawn Oliver Doyle commented:  “Every year our team set out to create something different for visitors and this year has been no exception.

“We are lucky to have such a wealth of dog trainers in this area, and we are sure having five new have a go activities will be a hit.

“The main arena always attracts big crowds and we hope that they’ll be entertained by everything from flyball to ferrets, soaring agility dogs to sniffing dogs; plus there are over 80 exhibitors to shop at, two charity dog shows, breed hang out and our wellness tipi. It’s probably enough for a full week…but we’ve got it crammed into a packed weekend.”

To purchase tickets for The North East Dog Festival 2023, please visit their website, where early bird tickets are available.