Furry Friends Festival
Stuyvesant Town Dog Fair
Photographs by Sergio Urciuoli
If you happened to be in the vicinity of East 18th Street and First Avenue, it’s possible that you noticed a great number of dogs and their owners heading into Stuy Town for the 4th annual Furry Friends Festival. It’s a celebration of pets and their owners put on by the management team of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Urban Dog was there to check it out.
The event, which was held from 1 to 3 PM in Playground 9 just west of Stuyvesant Oval, was a lot of fun. I would estimate more than 50 pets and their owners made their way to the festival.
The Furry Friends Festival is still an event that is growing but there were several vendors and quite a few pet owners there. Area pet service businesses like Happy Dogs, the popular local doggie day care and pet store located just north of 23rd Street was there. So was ABC Animal Hospital. I had a chance to speak extensively to Dr. Nam Kim of ABC Hospital and I was impressed. He and his team were engaging and friendly. Answering medical questions on the spot, as well as handing out delicious cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. They also handed out samples of Dr. Dan’s Pet Products, in this case, all natural, edible (yes, edible!) wonderfully scented dog shampoos.
Another attending businesses was Throw Me a Bone, pet care experts who provide dog walking, pet sitting, overnight care, and training for dogs.
The busiest booth there was Boprey Photography. Marshall Boprey, owner and photographer was on the spot to take what I thought were some of the cutest pet photos I have seen. At any given time, there were 10 to 15 pets and their owners in line to have their pooches pictures taken.
There was “pet art” as well, where your pet, in the vein of a Movie Star at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, could make paw print art.
There was even a makeshift obstacle course on hand.
Some dogs were able to navigate the barriers.
However, most were more interested in going around the obstacles than going over them!
