Climbing Moss

Last Weekend we got tickets to the Amazon Pet Fest – held in all places, Haggerston Park, an odd location, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Nevertheless we headed to E2 to find the big open park transformed into a mass of tents and awnings occupied by loads and loads of companies, so what did we find…

Haggerston Park in Hackney is a strange place, we know it as ‘Rat Park’, because of the large amount of rodents that live there! The park is split into parts, there is a big football pitch section, kids playgrounds and a woodland walk – where most of the rats live! In one corner is Hackney City Farm and then the other half is the old section with a Rose Garden and a massive field set out for football and cricket pitches. For the most part it seems to remain unused, but for one weekend it was a great venue for Amazon to take over and invite a large number of its popular Pet Food and Accessories Companies to show off their products and give away freebies to mostly Dog and Cat owners. We had tickets for both days and we even had a ticket for one of our dogs!

We arrived at the East Entrance having to go through bag check and a basic entry, we were given a free Tote Bag with the usual pamphlets and coupons and a map for a scavenger hunt inside then we set off to take a look at the tents.

Some of the companies were eager to show off their dog food, accessories and random extras, while others stood around looking bored at the hours of nothingness they had to endure inside the open tents.

We started the day at Barking Heads, a dog food company that boasts tailor made food high in fresh vegetables, but it seemed the only vegetables they had were the mindless staff standing around looking bored at hour one of the event – they made no interaction and stood chatting amongst themselves. No freebies and nothing to see.

So we moved on and found the next tent was also run by Barking Heads but they had employed Dog Trainers and others to talk and do workshops including Doggie Yoga and Puppy Training, this was indeed a lot more fun and random, watching middle aged women laying on the floor with the Yorkie laying on their stomach was different, to say the least! They also taught puppy classes on how to train your new dog to play, sit and not chew the furniture, in all it would have been useful, except our puppies are both over 10 and both over the doing as they are told stage!

Next was Whimzies Chews and Core Dog Food, who were leading the charge on Freebies, giving away hand picked portions of dog and cat food with kibble completely customisable, small pouches of succulent food, which one of our pups devoured later that night and we were sent back for more the next day!

We visited Ring next, they were not giving away free door bells or camera security equipment unfortunately – they were giving away tote bags with a bandana and some artisan biscuits. They did have a Photographer to take PAWtraits though and all proceeds were going to charity but we have more than enough photos of our dogs so instead we opted for coffee. They had a small van selling tiny half filled cups of froth and mhh coffee from a very grumpy barista and an idiot assistant who couldn’t work a card machine or the door of a van, it seemed!! They were selling Puppuccino’s which was whipped cream spray in an Espresso cup topped with a dog bone biscuit – The dog didn’t complain and even dropped her ball to devour the ‘drink’! (that doesn’t happen!)

The Amazon tent was basic, or Amazon Basics actually, a demonstration of all things and products available on the site for your pooch, dog bowls, blankets, beds and straw hats it seems! The were also giving away pouches of food and cat toys (although it turns out a 10kg dog would need about 12 pouches per day!)

The Parade ground with agility fences and Top Dog classes was next and was hosted by a jolly Aussie guy and a stroppy English woman, telling everyone they were holding their dogs wrong or they were wearing harnesses when they should all have Slip Collars on – we disagree and didn’t like her.

Next was James Wellbeloved and Pedigree, they were just showing off that they have lots of types of kibble and tray food, the good thing was they were giving it away as fast as you could grab it, we walked away on the first day with about 6 bags of Dental Sticks and the second day we pretty much took their entire stock home with us – we were doing them a favour, save them having to pack it all in their trucks, you understand, it was a humanitarian act!! Or is that a Caninitarian act?!

On to Yumove and the spinning wheel – the prize wheel was a win, lose deal and the first time we tried we won, the next day wasn’t as successful, we did walk away with their Pre/Probiotics which retail at around £40 a box, so that was pretty fair! They also gave away a ton of Chew Treats and Dental Care.

Then a row of tents for little companies, starting with The RSPCA Begging for people to do their jobs for them! As lately if you report cruelty we are told to find someone else to call.

Next was Api flea Treatment and right next to them, their main competitor, Frontline and then AquaCare FISH FOOD? Why? We had no idea and when we asked why they were at seemingly an all dog and cat event the woman growled “It’s a Pet event, fish are pets too you know!” Which we agree with but we were a bit disappointed to not see any small animals represented. We were handed a pair of sunglasses for stopping by.

There was a Pet aromatherapy scent tent and a really bad caricaturist drawing terrible pictures of dogs! They were giving out a vast supply of poo bag holders.

Then Tasty Bones, which primarily seemed to be two men who really didn’t want to be there, they were talking among themselves and ignoring people mostly, occasionally throwing a treat at a dog, but mostly ignoring everyone and just posing and bitching about the owners that walked past.

The Paddling Pool looked really deep because it was a black liner, it made it look like a strange catwalk as the dog waded about in the pool!

And Burns Dog Treats with some friendly staff who wanted to have some in depth conversations about your pups and supplying the dogs with treats and cuddles galore! There was tonnes of competitions to be entered via QR codes.

There was the Furminator – grooming area where you could try the different combs and brushes for your shedding fluff puffs.

The other side of this was Eukanuba – which had another spinning wheel where you could win accessories (bandanas, pop out water bowl) treats or toys.

The stage area with people talking and answering questions most of the time to nobody, a mass of deck chairs and bean bags remained empty for the most part, except when they allowed everyone to raid the stage on Sunday afternoon for free stuff that was being used as props. We left on Sunday looking like contestants from Crackerjack! (*A picture below – there you go a reference for all the Millennials and Gen Z’s reading this!)

There was a food and drink from an ice cream van selling 99p Flakes* for £5 each, a Hot dog stall, the irony is not lost on us! And most importantly a Beer Van – We only indulged on Saturday, for research purposes only – the IPA was passable, not noticeable but not horrible!

With the exception of two tents, the whole event was filled with people that truly cared for pets which was great to be around.

In all it was pretty good, mostly for all the freebies, but in all it was helpful, useful and the clear highlight of the whole thing…

There were sooooooo many dogs!

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So there we go, we would say look out for next year’s event and get to Haggerston Park for Pet Fest 2025 and grab as many freebies as you can possibly hold!!