Wienerfest 2023

September 29, 2023

Another Wienerfest has come and gone. It was a highly attended event with approximately 800 adults, 300 children and I’m many, many dogs. My team of volunteers and I ran the costume contest and doxie derby. Thank you to Jess, Erin, Lily, Marie and Megan for your help! We were very busy!

The winner of the costume contest was Milo who was dressed as Sebastian the Crab from the Little Mermaid. The runners up were Arlo the French Tourist and Poppy who was a Drag Queen aka “Dachsie.” Thank you to our costume judges, Keith Carson from News Center, Dorothy Havey, Belfast Chamber Director, artist Marie Spaulding and Connie Gardiner. Keith, his son Luca and their new dachshund, Magnolia (Maggie) also joined Petey the P.A.W.S. mascot to lead the parade of dogs around the park.

The Doxie Derby has 3 categories, the “minis” who were dachshunds under 12 lbs., the “standards” who were 12lbs and up and the "wannabes" who are non-dachshund contenders. The winner of the mini races was Buti, a 2.5-year-old dachshund from Gorham. The standard winner was Sonny, a 5-year-old dachshund from Kansas City, MO and the wannabe winner was Toby, a 6-year-old Norfolk Terrier from Belmont. At the end the mini and standard winners race off for the overall doxie champ and it was Buti that took home the trophy. We also had an unanticipated challenge where Toby’s human challenged Buti, the doxie champ, in exchange for an additional donation to P.A.W.S., to a race off where Buti remained supreme winner of the Wienerest Doxie Derby!

This adorable event is a fundraiser for P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center (pawsadoption.org) based in Camden and it was a successful and fun day! You can view more photos on the Maine Wienerfest Facebook page or website mainewienerfest.com. Next year’s event will be held on September 8th so mark your calendars!