Dog Festivals: 11 Around the World, From Worship to Surfboards

As the festive season begins so does the troubles of our furry friends, from shrill noise to smoke in the air. How good would it be to have festivals that look into the well-being of animals as well? Every dog has his day, so why not have dog festivals?

After all, festivities should mean happiness for every creature. Here is the definitive list of awesome dog festivals where dogs are celebrated for the heroes that they are!

Dog festivals around the world

 1. Kukur Tihar

Tihar is a Nepali Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year. The first day called Kaag Tihar sees food arrayed on the roofs as offerings to the crows. On the second day i.e. Kukur Tihar, dogs are revered in all of their aspects: as guardians, companions, and friends.

During Kukur Tihar, the mythological (as guards to the gates of Heaven) and real relationships between humans and dogs constitute the day’s major focus.

A garland of flowers is draped around the neck of the dogs and a mark, tika, made from a red dye powder — along with rice and curd is applied to the forehead of each dog, those with home, and the strays as well.

Kukur Tihar falls on the second day of Tihar, in late autumn, the same stretch of days India marks as Diwali. Think about the timing. Right when firecrackers across the subcontinent send street dogs diving under parked cars, Nepal sets aside a whole day to feed them and thank them.

The reverence has old roots. In Hindu belief, dogs guard the gates of the afterlife and serve Yama, the god of death, which is why the day honours every dog, owned or stray. It is celebrated across Nepal and in the Himalayan belt of India, in Sikkim, Darjeeling and the surrounding hills. For why dogs sit at the centre of so many of these stories, see dogs in Hinduism.

 2. Blessing of Animals 

Each year on October 4, the dogs and donkeys, cats and canary, hamsters and horses, are led to churches for a special ceremony called the Blessing of Animals. This custom is conducted in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. Devotees get their pets blessed in the spirit of this patron saint of animals and ecology. In Spain and much of Latin America the pets get a second turn on 17 January, the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, whom those countries honour as the patron saint of animals.

Here are two of the Franciscan Animal Blessings:

A. For All Animals
Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air, and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless this animal.
By the power of your love,
enable [him or her] to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.

B. For a Sick Animal
Heavenly Father,
you created all things for your glory
and made us stewards of this creature.
If it is your will, restore [him or her] to health and strength.
Blessed are you, Lord God,
and holy is your name forever and ever. Amen.

---

In addition to the above two festivals which have religious undertones, here are the rest, where the theme is pure celebration.

 3. Dog Day Festival 

Over 7000 dog lovers travel to the middle of Tennessee for the Dog Day Festival. Organized by the Nashville Humane Organization, this one-day event offers Live music, fashion, pampering, health, and training clinics with so much more!

The Dog Day Festival kicks off with the dog walk fundraiser. The event also features dog training classes, dog adoptions, contests with wacky awards such as “Waggliest Tail” and “Best Bark”.

See also: World Dog Day!

4. Woof-Stock

This annual Toronto festival showcases dogs and their sensational tricks, pug racing, etc. This free event is there for visiting!

 5. Aloha Pet Festival 

The island paradise of Hawaii, make no bones about stopping by the Aloha Pet Festival in Honolulu. Talented pooches can try their hand (or paws) at the pet costume and trick contests. Dogs can indulge in delicious delicacies from over 13 food trucks and vendors at Bow Wow Brunch.

6. Dogapalooza

 This Australian festival is a dog-friendly music spectacle held in Melbourne, Australia.

Aimed at raising money for animal rights organisations, the event is held in September. It’s a charity concert event against animal cruelty and which raises money for Melbourne-based animal advocacy organisations. The inspiration is simple,” says festival director, Abby Gee. “We’re trying to save the lives of ex-puppy farm and abandoned pound dogs.”

7. World’s Ugliest Dog Contest (Petaluma, California)

First things first, we know there are no ugly dogs. Petaluma, California hosts an annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, the organizers of the event declare this is all about a dog’s inner beauty that makes them so special.  They also offer a cash prize for the “Ugliest Dog”.

8. Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade

For more than thirty years, New York’s East Village has thrown the world’s largest dog costume parade, with dogs in adorable or at times ‘scary’ costumes, bringing joy and mirth to the onlookers. It is its own East Village tradition, not the city’s human Village Halloween Parade.

9. World Dog Surfing Championships (Pacifica, California)

Yes, it is real. Every August at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, near San Francisco, dogs paddle out in weight-class heats and tandem rides, judged on balance, ride length and style. It started in 2016, the money goes to animal welfare, and the wipeouts are half the fun.

10. DogFest (UK)

Britain’s big dog festival moves around the grounds of English stately homes each summer, Harewood House in Yorkshire among them. Have-a-go agility, fun dog shows, sheepdog displays, celebrity vets, and a few thousand dogs dragging their humans across a lawn. For once, it is the dog’s day out.

11. Pet Fed (India)

India’s biggest pet event is not a worship day or a charity gig. It is a carnival. Pet Fed travels across Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, pulls more than 60,000 visitors, and holds a Limca record as the country’s largest pet carnival, with 100-plus stalls, costume contests, agility runs and food trucks.

Pet Fed is a commercial expo, though, and much of its floor is breed-forward: pedigree parades, breeder and brand booths, the buy-a-puppy economy Dog with Blog has spent more than fifteen years arguing against. We list it because it is the biggest thing in Indian pet culture and you will hear about it anyway, not because we endorse that side of it. If you go, skip the breeder stalls and spend your time at the adoption drive, where the indies are waiting for exactly the home everyone else came to shop for.

One for the cat lovers: Tokyo’s Bakeneko Festival

Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival

Every October, a couple of weeks before Halloween, Tokyo’s Kagurazaka district fills up with people in cat ears and painted whiskers for the Bakeneko Festival. A bakeneko is the shape-shifting cat of Japanese folklore, and the neighbourhood has a fair claim to cats: Natsume Soseki, who wrote I Am a Cat, lived here. We are a dog blog, but we know when to tip our hat.

Know of any other dog festivals that celebrate the pooches? Please let us know in the comments below.

More ways the world celebrates dogs

The list does not end there. In India, families now tie a rakhi to the family dog every Raksha Bandhan, treating it as a sibling, a custom we explore in because dogs are brothers too. And the reverence runs deep enough to feel almost sacred, which is exactly why dog lovers like to point out that dog spelled backwards is God.