I had the absolute pleasure of attending The Good Life Experience Festival with my little dog a couple of summers ago. A festival that claims to not only welcome dogs but to actively encourage them to attend.
I was a little apprehensive at first about bringing him with me, concerned about how it would work logistically or how he’d get on with the noise and such like, but I can safely say it was a joy to have him there with us.
Here is our list of the top 3 dog friendly festivals to attend this summer:
1) The Good Life Experience
Taking place on 12 – 15 September in North Wales, The Good Life Experience is a celebration of music, food, craft and the great outdoors and is built on values the founders consider encourage attendees to reconnect back to the simple, ‘good’ life.
With a small capacity of 5,000 tickets, it felt very much like the most middle class festival I have ever attended which somehow made for a very safe, calm and inclusive environment for a dog to be in.
They claim on their website to be ‘the UK’s most dog friendly festival’ and having attended with my dog myself I think that is a claim I would second.
Dogs go free, there are plenty of dog specific activities throughout the festival, re-hydration stations dotted about the place and even free poo bags to ensure dogs and their owners are well catered for.
We even entered the charity dog show that takes place on the Sunday although were robbed of ‘best dog’ in the mongrel category but an elegant whippet-cross!
2) The Green Gathering
Taking place on 2-5 August this year, Green Gathering in Chepstow, South Wales claims to be ‘a festival with education for a sustainable future at it’s heart’.
With workshops and talks focused on eco-living alongside a celebration of music, art and spoken word this festival appears to be growing in popularity year on year.
There are a limited number of tickets available for dogs to attend with a upfront payment of £85 per dog, £40 of which is refundable at the end of the festival as a ‘good behaviour’ bond.
Festival attendees are encourage to only bring their dog if there really is no option to leave them dog at home. So although dogs aren’t activity encourage to attend this festival, it is nice that there is the option.
3) Staddon Calling
Taking place in Hertfordshire on 26-29 July. Staddon Calling is a boutique festival all about music which interestingly grew from a birthday BBQ celebration into the 10,000 strong festival goers it receives now in its 10th year.
On the ‘dog friendly’ pages of their website the first words you read are ‘bring them!’.
Dog owners are required to register their dogs before the festival and sign a short terms and conditions pledge to be responsible dog owners.
There are a range of canine friendly activities throughout the festival including a dog show with the category ‘waggiest tail’; now that is a category I am convince my little four-legged scruff ball could actually win!
