Overview
- Organizers estimated about 5,500 golden retrievers and roughly 16,000 people at Saturday's gathering, billed as the world's largest unofficial meetup of the breed.
- The free, city-run festival began in 2019 and is scheduled near International Golden Retriever Day in early February.
- To handle growth, Golden added pet-friendly shuttles from remote parking, dispersed vendor and meetup locations, and extended hours to 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Mayor Laura Weinberg called it one of the city's happiest days and said the event delivered a strong boost for shops, hotels, restaurants and small vendors.
- Programming included parades, a canine fashion show and a 'Golden Election' that named Cash as Canine Mayor, with therapy and rescue dogs joining visitors from 44 states and multiple countries.