Festival Overview
Sydney Showground will be raising the WOOF on 24 and 25 of August, as dog lovers from far and wide descend on one of the greatest dog-dedicated festivals in the world!
The Sydney Dog Lovers Festival is where paw-ty’s at, with a huge offering of K9-inspired education, entertainment and inspiration. Check-out what you will experience across the pooch-packed weekend.
New and expanded attractions for 2024
- OPTIMUM™ DOGWALK – be entertained by some of Australia’s ‘Hero Dogs’, fur-shanistas, human celebrities with their dogs, dancing dogs, rescue dogs, famous Insta-Pooches, and expert guests as they paw their way down the all-new runway.
- Dog Friendly Travel Hub – discover some of the best dog-friendly travel products, accessories, accommodation, and destinations.
- ADVANCE ™ Paws and Talks – have all your doggy questions answered with daily educational talks from expert DOGS NSW breeders and their canine companions plus other K9-inspired interactive sessions.
- Doggie-dedicated supermarket – shop for your dog ’til you drop with everything you need to spoil your pooch under one roof, with litters of Festival Specials!
- Mini Dog Races – cheer for the underdog in the race that never stopped a nation (but should!), Mini Dog Races feature dogs under 30cm racing over 15cm jumps celebrating all that’s so great about our little pooch dynamites.
- Dog Parkour – a challenging, exciting, physical activity in which the dogs learn to interact with their environment taking on a vast array of challenges and obstacles that will have audiences on the edge of their seats.
- Australia’s Best Doggleganger – think you and your Best Friend could be twins? We’re on the hunt for Australia’s Best Doggleganger– that perfect duo where human and canine look uncannily alike! See entry details on website + social pages.
- Knose Play, Paws & Pose zone: Make some fur-ever memories – fetch free puppy face painting, have fun with our new colouring wall and chill out in giant bean bags.
Returning Festival Favourites
- Kurgo® DockDogs – witness a spectacle of talent unleashed as impressive canines go head-to-head in Big Air, Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieval competitions, launching themselves off a raised dock into a 100,000-litre custom-built pool.
- VitaPet Arena – Farmer Dave and his team return with their Extreme High Jumping Dogs, Mini Dog Races & Dog Parkour to wow crowds with their talented terriers. Hear from Dr Katrina Warren, Kelly Gill and the Wonderdogs and learn valuable tips and tricks on pooch training. Plus, you can fetch a glance of them on the OPTIMUM™? DOGWALK!
- Lyka Pat-A-Pooch zone – get up close and paw-sonal with cuddly canines of all shapes and sizes in this always pup-ular attraction.
- Adoption Zone – speak with adoption experts about responsible dog ownership and the joy of helping a dog in need find a fur-ever home.
- ADVANCE TM Breed Showcase – presented by DOGS NSW, the expanded zone gives visitors their fur-fix by meeting an A-Z of dog breeds with 800+ dogs across the weekend.
- SASH Ask-A-Vet – get answers to all your canine centred questions in a personal one-on-one session with one of Australia’s leading veterinary hospital network.
- Plus capture the memory of your day-out at our ‘I Love Dogs’ sign, enter the VitaPet Door Prize, before chow-chowing down with some of Sydney’s best food trucks!
- Cats Next Door – in a truly paw-some move, ticket holders can purchase a strictly limited number of HALF PRICE tickets to the Cat Lovers Festival, with both events running at Sydney Showground across the same weekend.
Want to know how to get to the Festival? It’s this easy. Have another question? See our FAQs.
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Please don’t BYO dogs. Why? Read this.
When
Saturday 24 August: 9:30am - 5pm
Sunday 25 August: 9:30am - 5pm
Where
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park,
(Festival occupies the Dome, Hall 2A & 2B and the Cat Lovers Festival located in Hall 5/6)
Sydney Showground