PugFest VI to raise funds for Southwest Florida Reading Festival
Last week, the Lee County Library System announced that PugFest VI: PugStock will be held from noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30 at the Bell Tower Shops, located on the corner of U.S. 41 and Daniels Parkway, in Fort Myers.
PugFest, now in its sixth year, is a dog-friendly fundraiser for the Library System’s annual Southwest Florida Reading Festival.
This year’s theme is PugStock. There will be several contests including most Psychedelic Pug, Rock & Stop, a dog fashion show, open to any dog breed and a Chinese Auction with dog- gone good prizes. More than 1,500 animal lovers and 500 dogs attended the last event
Lee County PugFest organizers are grateful to their sponsors, Bell Tower Shops and LITE 93.7, as well as their Master of Ceremonies John T. Hulbert III, whose fun commentaries and music soundtracks make the contests and fashion show so enjoyable.
Admission is free, but a $5 donation per family is suggested. All funds raised benefit the Southwest Florida Reading Festival, a free community event to showcase the library’s programs and resources, and to promote reading and literacy.
The Lee County PugFest started when Dan Yaccarino, author and illustrator of the book “Unlovable” about a Pug, was scheduled to attend the Southwest Florida Reading Festival in 2005. Festival coordinators asked Dan to stay an extra day for PugFest which would be modeled after the original PugFest event in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2005, the event has taken off and attracts about 1,200 people and 500 dogs and has raised more than $11,000.
For more information about PugFest or the Southwest Florida Reading Festival, call 239-337-READ (7323) or visit readfest.org.