Bark in the Park in Charlotte
It sounds like Charlotte, NC, is the place to be next weekend if you're a dog lover. Over 12,000 dog people, many with their pets, are expected there for Bark in the Park, a huge dog festival/free event that features the Ultimate Air Dogs, presented by Purina. Very cool.
From the Charlotte Observer.
4TH ANNUAL EVENT
Saturday will be day to let the dogs out
Furry pals welcome to join their people at Bark in the Park
CELESTE SMITH
cesmith@charlotteobserver.com
Oh, the power of our four-legged friends.
The fourth annual Harris Teeter/Purina Bark in the Park dog festival happens Saturday at William R. Davie Park on Pineville-Matthews Road — and organizers are expecting a huge turnout for the free event. They hope to top last year's attendance of more than 12,000 dog lovers — many of whom bring their furry ones in tow. All dogs must be on a leash.
Look for the Ultimate Air Dogs, presented by Purina, showing off their jumping, diving and fetching skills. Vendor giveaways and contests — including a pet/owner look-alike competition — dominate the day.
And one very special pooch gets to lead the dog parade: the winner of an online "Top Dog" contest. (Voting ended Saturday; as of Friday afternoon, more than 55,000 votes were cast.)
If this sounds like the pets are the ones leading their human companions around on a leash, know that more is coming:
• Bark in the Park's popularity in south Charlotte spawned a north Mecklenburg version, "Howl-O-Ween," at Ramsey Creek Park on Lake Norman. Nearly 1,000 attended the inaugural celebration of pets in costume last October. It's now an annual event, too, scheduled for the Saturday before Halloween, said Candy Bridges, recreation coordinator for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation's South District.
• Not to leave out the household cats, look for "Meow in the Meadow" coming this fall or next year.
Details are still being worked out, Bridges said. But Meow will be held in an indoor venue, include goofy contests just like Bark, and also have an educational bent, with information on cat vaccinations, safety and health. (An earlier version debuted about 10 years ago at Grady Cole Center in uptown, Bridges said.)
About 85 million cats are owned in the United States, compared to 75 million dogs. Apparently this cat-outnumbering-dogs scenario plays out in Mecklenburg County as well, Bridges said.
"A lot of people have two cats," she said — herself included, with Sassy and Cuddles.
• And Mecklenburg County's dog parks will be free beginning July 1, since park and rec is eliminating the $35 "pooch pass" requirement. The county's fifth dog park, in Third Ward's Frazier Park, is expected to open this summer.
Few may have envisioned Charlotte's animal set having this many options when the Bark in the Park dog festival debuted in 1988 at Freedom Park, Bridges said.
It was a way to get dogs out of the way at other city festivals.
Apparently, they proved too pesky to humans.
Want to go?
The fourth annual Harris Teeter/Purina Bark in the Park dog festival happens Saturday at William R. Davie Park, 4635 Pineville-Matthews Road, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. For a schedule of events, go to www.parkandrec.com.
