Woofstock 2022

Rescue Village hosted its 29th Annual dog festival, Woofstock, on September 11th at The Cleveland Metroparks Polo Field. 4,300 people, 1,500 dogs, 90 vendors, and 14 food trucks showed up for the largest Woofstock to date for a family-friendly day of live music, dog games, food trucks, a beer garden, lure courses, and dog competitions. Over 70 “Ramblers” fundraised more than $12,000 to participate in the Ramble Parade, a tradition brought back after a hiatus of many years. Cole, a Rescue Village alumni whom Pat and Terry Palermo adopted, was featured as Woofstock’s Alpha Dog. Cole’s cartoon likeness, created by cartoonist Jenny Campbell, appeared everywhere the Woofstock logo was printed. Participants spent the day enjoying food from a variety of food trucks, including Barrio, Scott’s Fire and Ice, and vegan fair from MoBites. Wilson’s Beer Garden provided cool drinks, and Beatles cover band, the Liverpool Lads, provided live tunes in the afternoon.

Although Woofstock is enjoyed by all who attend, there is little doubt that the dogs are the ones having the time of their lives. This year, Woofstock featured three professional lure courses and hundreds of dogs got to chase the lure or, in some cases, completely ignore it and take in the sights, like Ferdinand
the bull, much to their owner’s amusement. Dogs also got to compete in dog games such as musical sit, owner-dog look-alike contest, the fastest dog, and the slowest dog for the senior pups. Dogs could test their skills at the agility course and then cool down with a “pup cup” from King Kone during the ice cream eating contest.

Woofstock raised over $145,000 for animals in need, and Rescue Village is excited to see this dog festival grow as a community tradition year after year! Next September will be the event’s 30th anniversary! Visit https://youtu.be/kv4HIfFcSAs to watch a short video that captures the essence of Woofstock and is all but guaranteed to put a smile on your face.