In 2024, for the first time, the Cat Lovers Festival & Dog Lovers Festival came together as a single “Super-Festival” offering visitors entry to two events for one ticket price.
It also marked our debut at the Melbourne Showgrounds, an ideal venue that combines expansive expo halls with versatile outdoor activations & catering spaces.
The new venue and layout presented operational challenges, but more importantly, unveiled exciting opportunities to enhance the Festivals’ offerings and we are already actively exploring some great new initiatives for 2025 and beyond.
The 2024 Melbourne Festivals marked some significant milestones: it was the 10th Dog Lovers Festival since its inception in 2013, the third post-COVID event, and the 4th Melbourne Cat Lovers Festival.
Together, the combined Festivals featured 17 sponsors and event partners, 209 exhibitors, 56 breeder stands, and 41 adoption groups. Visitors enjoyed a blend of Canine & Feline inspired entertainment & education delivered via 10 major attractions across the two shows.
For the Dog Lovers Festival, highlights included the new OPTIMUM™ DogWalk hosted by Brodie Young, sheepdog demonstrations, and returning favourites such as Kurgo® DockDogs, the Vitapet Arena, ADVANCE™ Paws & Talks Stage and Lyka Pat-A-Pooch. At the Cat Lovers Festival, new features like the WHISKAS® Kitty Corner joined perennial favourites, including the WHISKAS® Stage hosted by Shelley Horton, Black Hawk Pat-A-Cat and the Championship Cat Shows.
Special guests included Jackson Galaxy (via livestream), Sonia Hankova with Kepler Copernicus the adventure cat, Dr. Katrina Warren, Lara Shannon & Dogs Down Under, Kelly Gill & the Wonderdogs, Jamie the Dog Trainer, and Victorian Dancing with Dogs.
The combined Festivals attracted nearly 29,000 visitors* with over 80% stating that the dual event format provided ‘good value for money’ . With an audience crossover of approximately 70%**, individual attendance estimates are 25,000+ for the Dog Lovers Festival (19% increase) and 24,000+ for the Cat Lovers Festival (62% increase), a truly wonderful reponse to the update event format!