Huge festival focused entirely on dogs including fancy dress and competitions coming to Northamptonshire

A huge festival ‘all about dogs’ is coming to a Northamptonshire village this weekend.

DogTown, which will include fancy dress, competitions, beauty pageants and more will take place at Yardley Gobion Social Club on Sunday (August 15).

There will also be splash and play zones for the pooches, and more than 50 traders supplying everything from dog food to toys and accessories.

The event, which is open to all dogs breeds, was due to take place last year at Billing Aquadrome, however had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

This year the event will be at a smaller location as the organisers take a ‘tentative’ return step following no events for more than a year.

Lead organiser, Kerry Brooks, said: “This event has been planned last minute because of the pandemic. I didn’t want to risk it being cancelled again.

“We’ve had to do a year’s worth of work in about six weeks, but it is looking good so far.

“We didn’t know what the situation would be with Covid and whether people would want to come back out again, so we opted for a smaller venue as a tentative step back into events.”

During the event, which will run from 11am to 5pm, there will be 20 classes in the dog show and all dogs who finish from first to tenth will receive a prize.

All winning dogs will also receive a four foot rosette, which Kerry says is definitely ‘over the top’.

There will also be a beauty pageant, a fancy dress competition, a competition for ‘most unusual looks’ and a cheese run event.

Kerry added: “The main thing is that it is more than just a local dog show and the whole day is all about the dogs.

“It’s silly and fun.

“Owners don’t need any experience of showing their dogs, it’s more about the dog’s fun personality.”

Anyone and any dog breed are welcome at the event and people without a dog can visit as there is a family fun area.

Residents in Yardley Goblin, Towcester and Potterspury have also been invited to attend for free, via the ‘Your Yardley’ Facebook group.

For everyone else, there is a discount for pre-booking, but customers can pay on the day too.

Find out more by searching ‘DogTown’ on Facebook.

On the following Sunday (August 22), at the same location, Chihuahua Town, which is the ‘big’ event that people are ‘fanatical’ about, will also take place.