Woofstock 2024 is a Doggone Good Time
Rescue Village hosted its 31st annual dog festival, Woofstock, on Sunday, September 8th and welcomed 9,800 people, 4,000 dogs, 91 vendors, and 20 food trucks to the largest Woofstock to date for a family-friendly day of dog games, dock diving, lure courses and live music.
Over 30 Ramblers fundraised more than $10,000 to participate in the Ramble Parade, a tradition that calls back to the very first dog festival for Rescue Village called “Walk for the Animals”, held in 1993. Sally, a 4-year-old Havanese, led the parade as the 2024 Woofstock Alpha Dog, with her owner, Barbara Corns.
Attendees spent the day enjoying food from a variety of food trucks, including Rabbit Food, Mac Attack, and coffee concoctions from Java on Wheels. Four Paws Brewing Company sponsored the beer garden, which hosted 6 Northeast Ohio micro-breweries, while the headliner band, Back 9 Par 4, provided live tunes in the afternoon.
Woofstock was enjoyed by all attendees, but there was no doubt that those with 4 legs had the best doggone good time! Woofstock 2024 featured 5 professional lure courses, sponsored by Swiftpaws, empowering dogs to test their chasing skills.
2024 marked the first year that Woofstock hosted dock diving try-its. Dock diving is a fun water sport for dogs, and dog sport experts, Dawg Gone It, provided the mobile dock unit, along with their staff to coach the dogs to jump in after their favorite toy. This brought a whole new level of FUN to the most favorite activity at Woofstock, which is dog-watching!
In the arenas, dogs competed for prizes such as best Dog-Owner Look-Alike, Most Beautiful Eyes, and Best Kisser. Listening skills were thoroughly tested with rounds of Musical Sit, where dogs competed head-to-head to win a toy of their choosing. Pups could also cool off with a cold treat at one of the dog-friendly Ice Cream Eating contests.
Once again, the annual Woofstock costume contest proved one of the most popular spectacles, with three lucky dogs winning awards. Like every year, the judges had to make some tough decisions. Most importantly, dogs and their people got to create some lasting memories.
Woofstock 2024 raised more than $210,000 for homeless animals in need, allowing Rescue Village to continue its lifesaving work. Thank you to everyone who supported the event.
Woofstock won the 2024 CLE Magazine’s “Best of the East” charity event award for the 2nd year in a row and is making its mark as the biggest dog festival in Ohio.
To see all the photos from Woofstock 2024, visit www.rescuevillage.smugmug.com.
PHOTO BY: David Petkiewicz
David Petkiewicz of Cleveland.com was onsite at Woofstock Sunday, September 8th and took terrific event pictures. Check out all the images and coverage here.