Fair for four-legged friends takes place at Eastbourne hotel

The Chatsworth Hotel on the town’s seafront will play host to the event on Sunday 5 November from 1pm-5pm.

The event is being held to raise the profile of Eastbourne as a dog friendly destination and is one of several projects funded by the VisitEastbourne Tourism Development Fund – a £15,000 pot to subsidise new initiatives, which help to increase footfall and visitor spend in the town.

The fayre will include pet portrait photograph sessions, pet first aid training, dog grooming demonstrations, doggy competitions, dog treats and a tombola, with dog food and pet fashion brands such as Butternut Box and Over Glam in attendance. Entry to the fayre is free to well behaved dogs and their owners.

The event is part of a weekend programme of activities at the hotel, offering accommodation packages and dog walking tours via DogFriendly.co.uk – where dog owners can also vote for Eastbourne as the most dog friendly destination (vote closes 31 October).

It takes place as a new Dog Friendly Guide is published, which will appear both online at VisitEastbourne.com and in print and distributed by the Friends of Eastbourne Seafront welcome team, Seafront Office and Eastbourne Visitor Centre.

The guide is a directory of all things dog friendly in Eastbourne and the surrounding areas.

Councillor Margaret Bannister, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Lead Member for Tourism, Leisure, Accessibility & Community Safety, said, “This is going to be an amazing event for our four-legged friends and their owners, and will showcase what a really dog friendly destination Eastbourne is.

“The VisitEastbourne Tourism Development Fund is all about partnership working and how by working together we can amplify our message to visitors and provide impactful results, highlighting the fantastic town that Eastbourne is and what it has to offer to wider audiences. I am delighted to see it working in action.”

In addition to dog friendly projects the Fund also supported the launch of new event A Taste of Victoria Place, which showcased the restaurant community in August, and will be supporting several other projects between now and December.

Applications were open exclusively to current members of VisitEastbourne – managed by Eastbourne Borough Council’s Tourism & Culture team.

For more information on Dog Friendly Eastbourne visit VisitEastbourne.com/pet-friendly.