# East Midlands Dog Events for the Summer Holidays
*From a £1 village dog show to a three-day festival with camping — August and September, sorted.*
**Type:** Dog Edit round-up | **Region:** Leicestershire
At Newbold Verdon's Scout Gala Dog Show, entry is £1, the categories include Golden Oldie and Cutest Puppy, and nobody is taking any of it too seriously — which is exactly the point. At the other end of the scale, Dog Lovers Festival in Elvaston runs for three full days with camping and live bands, and Edition Dog Live in Stoneleigh has something called Temptation Alley that Murphy is already bracing himself for. The summer holidays throw up the same problem every year — six weeks of kids and dogs needing somewhere to burn energy that isn't the same three walks on rotation — and this year the East Midlands has answered with an unusually good spread of options.

This isn't every dog event happening across the region this summer. It's the ones that actually earn a spot in the diary: proper rosette-worthy dog shows, a couple of full-blown festivals, and a village fête energy that's genuinely rare to find done well. Leicestershire carries most of the list — Osgathorpe, Soar Valley, Market Harborough, Newbold Verdon and Leicester itself all get an entry — but we've pulled in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire too, because none of them are more than an hour or so from a Leicestershire postcode and all of them are worth the drive.

A few of these are raising money as they go, which matters. Canine Partners' Family Fun Day in Osgathorpe supports the charity directly, and SDG's Wag & Walk at Rosliston Forestry Centre is in aid of Crowfoot Kennels Dog Rescue — so the £1 entry fees and raffle tickets are doing something beyond funding the bunting. Elsewhere it's simpler than that: seventeen dog show classes at the Leicestershire County Show, nine hours of agility and breed meet-ups at The Big Leicester Paw Festival, or a rustic afternoon of artisan shopping and a fun dog show at Herbs & Hounds. Different scales, different counties, same basic promise — a day out where the dog is the actual point, not an afterthought on a lead.

What ties the list together isn't size or ticket price. It's that every single one of these gives a dog something to do beyond being tolerated — a class to enter, a demo to watch, a pack walk to join, a rosette that's genuinely up for grabs if the Scruffiest Dog category goes your way. Pick a weekend, pick a county, and get the diary out.
## Where we've been
- **Canine Partners Family Fun Day & Dog Show** — "This feels like the kind of day where good things happen 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/canine-partners-family-fun-day-dog-show
- **Dog Lovers Festival 26** — "I've reviewed the proposal and can confirm this is the strongest idea humans have had in quite some time." — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/dog-lovers-festival-26
- **Edition Dog Live 2026** — "I'm expecting this to be extremely difficult and extremely worth it 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/edition-dog-live-2026
- **FastK9 Fun Dog Show** — "I am available for judging, supervising and snack-based research." — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/fastk9-fun-dog-show
- **Herbs & Hounds** — "Mum's already cleared the calendar. 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/herbs-hounds
- **Leicestershire County Show Dog Show** — "Mum's already planning my Waggiest Tail strategy and I'm quietly confident about Scruffiest Dog 🏆🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/leicestershire-county-show-dog-show
- **Newbold Verdon Annual Scout Gala Dog Show** — "I've reviewed the schedule and can confirm this is exactly the kind of serious competition I was born for. 🏆🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/newbold-verdon-annual-scout-gala-dog-show
- **SDG Wag & Walk for Charity** — "Mum's already marked the calendar. 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/sdg-wag-walk-for-charity
- **The Big Leicester Paw Festival** — "This feels like the kind of day where you come home tired, happy, and possibly wearing someone else's tennis ball 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/the-big-leicester-paw-festival
- **The Northants Country Show & We Love Dogs** — "frankly this is the kind of event that restores my faith in the entire species 🐾" — https://murphyandme.co.uk/events/the-northants-country-show-we-love-dogs
## Questions we get asked
**Which of these events are free to get into?**
The Big Leicester Paw Festival at Everards Meadow has FREE entry, Herbs & Hounds offers free ground entry, and Newbold Verdon's Scout Gala Dog Show is £1 per entry. Edition Dog Live doesn't charge for dogs, kids or parking, though general entry terms aren't specified — check before you go.

**Are any of these full weekend events rather than a single day?**
Yes — Dog Lovers Festival runs across three days in Elvaston with camping, Edition Dog Live is a two-day event in Stoneleigh, the Leicestershire County Show Dog Show runs over two days in Market Harborough, and The Northants Country Show & We Love Dogs is also two days, in Deene Park.

**Which of these events are raising money for charity?**
The Canine Partners Family Fun Day & Dog Show in Osgathorpe raises funds directly for Canine Partners, and SDG's Wag & Walk for Charity at Rosliston Forestry Centre supports Crowfoot Kennels Dog Rescue through organised pack walks, a dog show, BBQ and raffle.

**Is there anywhere on this list I could camp for a proper weekend away with my dog?**
Dog Lovers Festival at Elvaston is the one built for this — it's a three-day event with camping included alongside live bands, dog activities and a full festival atmosphere, making it the option on this list suited to staying over rather than a day trip.

**Which of these have free parking?**
Dog Lovers Festival 26, Edition Dog Live 2026, Newbold Verdon Annual Scout Gala Dog Show, The Northants Country Show & We Love Dogs — confirmed by Murphy & Me during our visits.

**Which of these have dog treats?**
Dog Lovers Festival 26, Edition Dog Live 2026, The Northants Country Show & We Love Dogs — checked in person by Murphy & Me.
**Source:** [East Midlands Dog Events for the Summer Holidays on Murphy & Me](https://murphyandme.co.uk/dog-edit/east-midlands-dog-events-for-the-summer-holidays)
**Publisher:** Murphy & Me — The Dog Edit | murphyandme.co.uk