Who let the dogs out? It’s Canine Central at Chatsworth Road Festival

A dog parade, live bands, boxing, and a bouncy castle all featured in the revival of the Chatsworth Road Festival, 34 years after the last festival on the high street.

In the 1980s the Chatsworth Road area was a popular place for community events, markets and parades, and the organisers behind the 2013 festival aimed to bring back that same community spirit.

The lively festival earlier this month kicked off with a training session from Clapton Rangers FC, followed by demonstrations from Pedro Boxing Club.

Both clubs as well as Chatsworth Road Supermarket provided support for the festival’s grand return.

There were a wide array of stalls pitched by organisations including East London charity Social Action for Health, Chatsworth Road Tenants and Residents’ Associaton (CRTRA) and A&S Cycles, and a dog show photo booth.

There were also stalls offering free health checks, a raffle, bicycle workshops and the chance to get photographed with your dog.

CRTRA, which also revived the weekly Sunday market in 2011, was behind the festival’s revival.

Market Manager and organiser Allan Parker, a life-long Hackney resident, said the Association, “wanted to put on an event for the local community, bringing the community together”.

Organiser Dominic Rose said: “It’s about the chance for people to get together, for local businesses to promote themselves, for people to get out on the street and make use of the high street.”

A very popular bouncy castle had kids in the air all day, and guided walks round Clapton Park Garden, otherwise known as the ‘Poppy Estate’ revealed the hidden beauty of the area. Local residents had recently planted over 150 heritage fruit trees and started growing their own food.

Kids drew with coloured chalk on the street while adults were entertained by bluegrass bands including Yngve & The Innocent in front of the abandoned Dentists, which became a pop-up bar.

Two Caribbean restaurants had their own soundsystems alongside some impromptu capoeira street dancing, and the Comadisco sound system provided tunes all afternoon and right into the night.

A dog’s day

The highlight of the day was the first ever Chatsworth Road’s Annual Dog Show, where dogs of all shapes and sizes were brought to compete, culminating in a prize-giving and dog parade.

We talked to the Lucy Ferguson, organiser of the dog show, head of Hackney film agency Mediorite and proud owner of a staffy named Fudge (who was, of course, exempt from judging).

“We’ve had a three-legged dog, we’ve had a 50kg dog, we’ve had a dog the size of a teacup, we’ve had a dog called teacup, we’ve had quite a lot of staffies,  we’ve had dogs that can do tricks, it’s been amazing, like Britain’s Got Talent in canine form,” she said.

Entrants were asked to create their own entry categories, which included ‘most barky dog’ and ‘most freckly dog’.  The winner of the biggest dog prize was a massive black 50kg Newfoundland. One dog sported its own tiny blue hoody and fake ginger beard to create a startling likeness of its owner.

“I’m going to push for dog agility next year” said Lucy “and possibly Jack Russell racing, that also ends in carnage [like the dog parade] – anything that involves dogs and carnage is something that I would like to encourage.”

The overall winner was a puppy named Yogi, chosen for his tricks and good looks. His owner is local resident Anna Fiorentini, who won £40 voucher for a pet supplies website to spoil the pooch. Anna has lived in the area for 40 years.

“I was a little girl when there was an actual market here – it’s really great that they’re starting to revive it,” she said.

She thought the dog show was “a lovely idea, and I thought it would be nice for him to meet other dogs in the area.”

But it’s not just Yogi’s winning good looks and talents that makes him different: Yogi is a community dog.

“I share Yogi with a very good friend of mine,” she said. “We’re both self-employed and we both really wanted a dog but couldn’t look after a dog completely by ourselves, so we share him. We also got a lot of neighbours involved – and they all wanted a community dog. Even though he lives at mine, a lot of people love him and care for him”

But will the festival make a reappearance next year? Organiser Dominic Rose said: “It’s a really good event to build on for next year, it had a really nice tone to it….so watch out!”