DogFest 2016, the summer festival for dogs, attracted a record number of 49,929 visitors across two weekend events.

Hosted by Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, from Channel 4’s Supervet, the event took place at Arley Hall, Cheshire on 18-19 June and Windsor Great Park on 25-26 June.

Visitors and their canine companions raised money for The Humanimal Trust in the Vets4Pets Great Dog Walk and also Manchester & Cheshire Dogs Home (Arley Hall) and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (Windsor Great Park), alongside jumps, tunnels and frames in the Natural Instinct Agility Ring, hay bale racing and various fun competitions.

“I’ve seen DogFest grow from a handful of people in the field behind the practice to tens of thousands in Arley Hall and Windsor Great Park this year,” said Fitzpatrick.

“The numbers of attendees and exhibitors have grown and I’m deeply grateful, but most of all I’m so happy that the spirit and the soul of DogFest continues to grow. We celebrate the love that exists between a dog and a man, woman or child, old or young – a family that shares their life with man’s best friend – and we bottle that love and spray it around the world for all animals and for each other.”

This year’s event also saw crowds gather to watch experts take part in displays including skilful agility courses and jumps through fire in the Drontal Advantage main activity ring.

DogFest co-founder and director Nicole Cooper of Brands Events said: “DogFest 2016 has been phenomenal – our aim for this year was to double the event in terms of floor space and consequently, we have more than doubled the number of exhibitors across both events and have taken the event to two days in each location, but our expectations for visitor numbers have been greatly surpassed. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors and exhibitors for supporting what truly has been the biggest and best DogFest yet and plans are already underway for 2017.”