Benicia's Second Annual Dog Festival

Benicia’s Second Annual Dog Festival

The Cause for Paws

Genevieve Hand

It’s no big secret that Benicia is a dog-friendly town. We could expound lengthily about all the dog-friendly amenities Benicia has to offer. However, until recently, there was one thing our town was missing: a dog festival. After the sensational success of last year’s Inaugural Dog Festival, we are happy to report that it is returning in October as the Second Annual Benicia Dog Festival.

Many of last year’s crowd-pleasing events will be making a comeback, such as the dog agility course, police dog demonstrations, and dog fashion show. There will also be some differences. Last year’s event drew dog-lovers and their pooches from Benicia and surrounding cities who packed the First Street Green. This year, the City has granted an expansion of the festival onto First

Street, allowing food and drink vendors in addition to the merchandise vendors, pet adoption, and microchipping stations. The red carpet for the fashion show will run along the pier parking lot at the end of First Street and in the roundabout, there will be a stage with live music. The beach along First Street will be open for dogs to enjoy off-leash – leashes will still be required everywhere else.

Beyond the popular success of last year’s Inaugural Dog Festival, it also was successful in fulfilling its greater purpose: raising money for emergency pet rescue organizations. The event founders, Gaul Culley and Kelly Dillingham hold this goal dear as they were moved by the displacement and endangerment of so many pets and other animals during the catastrophic California wildfires in recent years. They established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit through the Solano Association of Realtors specifically to support the organizations that provide care for animals during natural disasters. Approximately $30k was raised last year, all of which is made available to rescue organizations within 24 hours of an emergency.

The Second Annual Benicia Dog Festival is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 15th, 2022. At the time of this writing, event organizers are hoping to expand the festivities into the week leading up to the festival with fun meetups and dog-friendly happy hours. The festival is still accepting vendors, sponsors, donors, and volunteers for this year’s event. You can find out more about the festival and how you can get involved at beniciadogfestival.com. Vendor fees and donations are tax deductible.