Above and below, left: Images courtesy of So Cal Corgi Nation. Below, right: file photo.
The largest corgi beach bash to date will take place in Long Beach for the first time, bringing hundreds of corgis and the people who love them—the thousands of people who love them, that is—to Rosie’s Dog Beach from 10:00AM to 2:00PM on Saturday.
What began as one couple’s idea to meet the like-minded corgi owners they’d discovered through social media has quickly grown to become a cult canine phenomenon.
“We started this in October of 2012, my husband and I,” said Kelly McLemore, co-founder of So Cal Corgi Nation alongside her husband, Dan. “We have a corgi ourselves, Mr. Pickles. And he was on social media, he was on Facebook because we’re crazy corgi people like that.”
So the corgi-loving dynamic duo hosted a meetup, gathering a humble group of 15 corgis and their enthusiastic owners that year.
“Then we had another one and 75 corgis showed up, then the next one we had there was 150 and then it just kept multiplying from there,” she said.
The most recent So Cal Corgi Beach Day, held at Huntington Dog Beach last spring, drew a turnout of nearly 700 corgis and probably 3,500 people, said McLemore.
At this upcoming corgi celebration, corgi lovers will have the chance to kiss their favorite corgi-lebrity at the Kissing Booth, of which the $1-a-ticket proceeds will go toward Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue. Corgis can strut their stuff wearing their best corgi-kini during the Corgi Costume Contest, bend forward and back during the popular Corgi Limbo Contest and, last but not least, shake what their mama gave them during the Best Momo, (momo meaning “Corgi Butt”) Contest, an all new addition to the festival. Food trucks, bathrooms and plenty of parking will be available.
So Cal Corgi Beach Day will also be sponsored for the first time by Purina Beyond, a naturally-made pet food.
“Beyond is excited to participate in So Cal Corgi Beach Day and will be adding some unique, interactive experiences to this one-of-a-kind event by providing attendees with a doggie farmer’s market, samples of our natural dog food and treats, and a fun photo opportunity,” said Kristen Aldenderfer, Purina Beyond brand manager.
She added that for every photo or video posted during the event tagged with #CorgiBeachDay and @BeyondPetFood on Instagram or Twitter, Beyond will donate one pound of dog food (up to 500 pounds) to the event’s non-profit partner, Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue.
“I don’t know any other dog community like this,” said McLemore. “It’s a really tight-knit group of people on social media and if one of these corgis had to be given an operation or something, everybody would fundraise to pay for the operation. If anybody needs anything everybody helps, so we wanted to meet them face to face.”
“It’s just a really good group of people,” she said. “Everybody is super caring and they go above and beyond to help each other out. I think it’s unique in that way.”
All are welcome to the event and can also bring their “honorary corgis,” as in a different breed, to partake in the festivities celebrating the low-riding, charismatic, adventure-seeking and adorably feisty dog.
McLemore said that the next Corgi Beach Day will take place at Huntington Dog Beach on Saturday, October 24, but she plans to bring the event back to Long Beach as a regular summer occurrence.
For more information about So Cal Corgi Beach Day, held seasonally, click here. For the most updated info and schedule of events regarding Saturday, click here.
Let’s go!
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