Registration for the second annual Dog-O-Rama has nearly tripled compared with last year, according to co-founder David Anderson, and the festival is responding by expanding into a bigger new venue for its three-day run from September 18 through 20. The event will spread across Ilwaco and Long Beach, mixing competitive dog sports with carnival games, a costume contest and a hospital fundraiser.
Anderson and his wife Jessica founded Dog-O-Rama last year, and this time around the festival has grown to 28 total events, as reported by the Chinook Observer. Anderson said all dogs can participate, and the festival kicks off with a free pup parade starting at 5 p.m. on September 18 in Ilwaco. From there, the action shifts to Dune Meadows Field, a new site next to the boardwalk along the Bolstad Beach Approach that Anderson said is roughly the size of a football field and can host multiple events at once.
Disc Dogs and AKC Titling Tests Take Over Dune Meadows
The festival's headline competitive draw is a Skyhoundz DiscDogathon qualifier held at Dune Meadows Field, measuring accuracy and speed and including a freestyle round. Skyhoundz, which organizes the DiscDogathon series nationally, structures the competition around five disciplines — Bullseye, Freestyle, Pairs Distance/Accuracy, Spot Landing and TimeTrial — and the Ilwaco event provides points toward qualification for the Skyhoundz World Championship, according to Skyhoundz.
American Kennel Club events return for a second year at the festival, including AKC obstacle courses and the AKC Farm Dog Certified test, a 12-exercise evaluation open to dogs of all breeds. The American Kennel Club created the Farm Dog test in 2016 to measure a dog's self-control, trainability and confidence around livestock and rural sights and sounds, per the American Kennel Club. Dog-O-Rama also features AKC Fetch, a noncompetitive titling program the AKC introduced in January 2024 that assesses a dog's retrieving ability across four levels — Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Retriever — for registered dogs at least six months old.
Fair Games, a Tricks Contest and a Judging Mayor
Back at Veterans Field, the festival hosts fair-style and carnival games alongside a tricks contest offering another creative competition for dogs. The tricks contest's first-place winner receives a discount on pet insurance from Farmers Insurance, and other first-place prizes across the festival's games include a free crepe, a free ice cream cone or a free dog wash. Dog-O-Rama awards prizes for first, second and third place across its events.
Long Beach Mayor Sue Svendsen is set to judge the costume contest, whose winner receives a free two-night stay at the historic Sou'wester Lodge in Seaview. The second-place finisher takes home a Sou'wester spa package, and the third-place winner gets one hour of private sauna access for themselves and three companions. The Sou'wester property began in 1892 as a Victorian retreat built for Oregon U.S. Senator Henry Winslow Corbett before it evolved into a resort of more than 30 restored vintage travel trailers with an artist residency program, according to The Sou'wester Lodge.
Raffle Proceeds Support Push for a Permanent MRI in Ilwaco
A separate raffle at the festival will send a custom dog portrait by Don Nesbitt to one lucky winner, with proceeds benefiting the Ocean Beach Health Foundation's fundraising campaign for a permanent MRI machine at the Ilwaco hospital. The foundation launched a $500,000 community fundraising drive earlier this month, and Dog-O-Rama's benefit raffle is one piece of that effort, per Ocean Beach Health. Group dog walks are also planned during the weekend, connecting dogs and owners seeking exercise companions.
Music closes out the weekend with a free concert from Portland-based band Bridgetown Get Down at Veterans Field on September 19. The band reduced its performance price by one-third for the festival, the Chinook Observer reported. Rotary Club of Southwest Pacific County will sell locally donated beverages on-site, with proceeds directed to programs supporting children, while North Jetty Brewing and Ilwaco Cider Co. donate beer and Fort George Distribution donates jockey boxes to keep it flowing.
Municipal Funding and Local Beach Rules
The City of Long Beach provided $4,000 through its Municipal Lodging Tax Advisory Committee fund to support the festival, a grant program designed to boost marketing and special events that generate overnight tourist stays during shoulder seasons, according to the City of Long Beach. Anderson estimated that local support beyond municipal funding has raised roughly $10,000 toward the festival's budgeted costs of $17,000.
Visitors bringing dogs to the peninsula should know that Long Beach municipal code requires dogs to be kept on a secure leash no longer than six feet in public parks and streets, though the city notes that municipal and state park authorities typically exercise enforcement discretion for well-controlled pets on the open ocean beach. Registration for Dog-O-Rama is available at coastalclasscrepes.com/dogorama-registration.
