Back in its second year at Alameda County Fairgrounds on September 14, Corgi Con expects to welcome over 2,000 dogs and even more human fans for a corgi race, corgi obstacle course, corgi costume contest, 36 vendors selling dog-related items and much fun in the company of stumpy-legged dogs—and any taller dogs attending “incorgnito.”
This large-scale event takes place thanks to the efforts of a small team, consisting of founder Cynthia Lee, her husband, and a few friends—all represented by their corgis on the website. Running the event also requires the work of about 50 volunteers, including a lot of high school and college students earning community service credits.
Lee thinks back to 10 years ago, when the idea of a Bay Area Corgi Con took off. “I was hosting a lot of Bay Area, San Francisco specifically, Corgi meetups,” Lee says. “That was when Instagram started to become a little bit bigger. My corgi had an Instagram account and she started to make lots of friends…People said, ‘If you had a really big meetup we would drive out from wherever we are.’”
Facebook Events also helped get the word out about corgi events, as organizers can judge engagement through the “interested” option that people can select to receive updates. And there’s something iconic about corgis themselves. Lee notes, “If you see one on the street, people will yell out ‘Corgi!’ and get really excited. You don’t do that if you see a Golden Retriever.”
San Francisco wasn’t the first to host a corgi convention—Los Angeles had started holding its own Corgi Nation meetups a few years earlier—but the first con in 2014 saw about 90 corgis. Later, Corgi Con would meet at Ocean Beach, moving to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in 2023. An improvement, according to Lee, as the event has outgrown its previous venue. “[At the beach] there were no food trucks, parking was terrible, we had to get portapotties. There was a huge traffic jam on the highway. It wasn’t the easiest location to get to. Now people are excited because there’s food trucks and real bathrooms!” As dogs tend to be less judicious about restrooms, Lee reminds attendees, “We also stress with the community, Be a poop fairy, even if it’s not your dog.” The con makes sure poop bags are plentiful, and last year’s attendees behaved conscientiously about cleaning up pet waste.
But the event isn’t just about cuteness and community. Corgis will also have the chance to show off their athleticism. “Most people don’t even know they’re actually herding dogs,” Lee notes. “The internet portrays them as lazy loafs of bread that just roam around.” Corgis will compete in the Corgi Ninja Warrior agility course with jumps and weave poles, and of course the highlight of the con is the “Mickey’s Derby” corgi race, where the dogs line up, and then zoom off in all directions. Some even make it to the finish line. Lee shares, “We have some corgis that come out for the races, and they’re really professional racers. They travel around and try to hit up all the different races.” At the Alameda County Fair in June, corgis actually raced on the racetrack. However, people are not allowed to bet on the fluffers. Just enjoy their skill and speed—or lack thereof.
Hopefully, the fairgrounds will be home to Corgi Con for years to come. Lee found the venue welcoming and communicative, even though the Fairgrounds usually doesn’t allow pet dogs. The con was also happy to partner with Visit Tri-Valley, which connected them with hotels that could offer discounts to out-of-towners.
In its near decade, even while being an off-leash dog event, the con hasn’t had incidents of corg-on-corg violence. The dogs roam around without becoming aggressive with each other. It’s a fun, upbeat vibe with these expressive, occasionally judgmental and often goofy dogs. Lee is happy to bring a little more joy into the world, saying corgis “always make you laugh no matter what it is.”
Corgi Con
Saturday, Sep 14
10am – 5pm
Alameda County Fairgrounds
4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton
corgicon.com
Tickets:
General: Advance $10 / Day of $15
Children 7-12: Advance $5 / Day of $9
Children 6 & under: Free
General Parking, Gate 8 and Gate 12 on Valley Avenue: $15
