Wag It Forward

wag It Forward:
a nonprofit festival for pets

Save the Date!
Join Pet Food Warehouse at the
Champlain Valley Exposition on
Saturday, September 23, 2023

location

The Champlain Valley Exposition, 105 Pearl Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452

$5 TICKETS

Entrance fee is $5
Children under 12 years old are free.
Parking is free.
All proceeds are donated to the WIF Fund, to be split equally between all participating local animal welfare groups.
Tickets are available for purchase at the gate, in either PFW store, and online beginning June 1st!

Pets

Leashed dogs are welcome! Cats should be secured in a bag or carrier. The event can be stressful for cats, please use your best judgement!
An animal waiver is required upon entrance for all pets in attendance.
Skip the line and fill out your waiver ahead of time. Waivers are available at Pet Food Warehouse, or can be found here, or can be completed at the event entrance.
All waivers must be submitted at time of entrance as a hard copy (no digital copies accepted).

The Event

Pet Food Warehouse is excited to celebrate its 40th anniversary with the biggest and baddest 80’s themed Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT, with the aim of drawing attention to the many animal welfare groups we have in Vermont, and to provide a fundraising opportunity for these groups and the animals they benefit.
Last year, we had the most successful WIF yet! The Under the Sea themed festival resulted in over $20,000 donated to 21 local animal welfare groups from WIF proceeds! Over 1,200 humans and their pets enjoyed the beautiful fall day visiting the 35+ pet-centric vendors along with the beneficiary groups and volunteers. We hosted dog dock diving, live music, multiple selfie stations, agility courses, and a professional branded photo booth, and had an impressive turnout of costumed pets and people to partake in the contest midday.
Wag It Forward 2023 kicks off again with the Chase Away Canine Cancer 5K fun run; Dock Dogs will be back with competition waves and practice dives; our local 99.9 The Buzz Bash crew and live music will keep the atmosphere fly; enter the 80’s costume contest at 2pm for a chance to score radical prize packages; scarf up sweet nourishment from local food vendors; hang with the youngsters in the Fun Zone with family-friendly activities; chill at the demonstration areas and marvel at the talents of specially-trained dogs; and way more to be announced!
Stay tuned and stay stoked for details!
The event will be held rain or shine