Reminders: The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival is tomorrow!

As previously noted: The 2022 version of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade has a new name — and a familiar location. 

The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival takes place TOMORROW (Oct. 22) starting at 1 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park. Dan Schachner, a former NFL referee who now serves as host of the Puppy Bowl, is the host. 

Alex Carpenter and Maegan Hayward of the East Village Vintage Collective interviewed organizer Joseph Borduin in this podcast for Jason Charles.net. Listen here.

The Dog Parade/Festival, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018, 2019 and 2021. (That venue is no longer available.) The 2020 pandemic version was mostly virtual, with a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B.

The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, with a new name, returns to Tompkins Square Park

The 2022 version of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade has a new name — and a familiar location. 

Organizers have announced that this year's event, now known as the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival, is taking place on Oct. 22, starting at 1 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park. Dan Schachner, a former NFL referee who now serves as host of the Puppy Bowl, is the host. 

Find details about registering your dog and serving as a volunteer at this link.

The Dog Parade/Festival, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018, 2019 and 2021. (That venue is no longer available.) The 2020 pandemic version was mostly virtual, with a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B.

At the 31st Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

The 31st edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade took place again at the East River Park Amphitheater this past Saturday afternoon.

As the top pic shows, there was a big turnout for the event after last year's primarily virtual offering (there was a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B).

And as always, there were pop (pup?)-cultural references galore represented in the costumes, from standbys such as "Star Wars," "It" and "Joker" to recent phenomenons like "Squid Game."

In the end, the panel of judges, which included local resident Lindsey Jordan, the singer-songwriter behind Snail Mail, selected a more topical Best in Show... 

... an essential workers tribute created by Bronx resident Ruben Santana and featuring his dog Amun ...

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there ... and she shared this look at some of the costumes seen on this dog day afternoon...

The Dog Parade, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018 and 2019.

With the gutting of East River Park expected to start in several weeks, this will likely be the last time the Dog Parade is held at this venue in the foreseeable future. 

Opponents of the city's current resiliency plan for the Lower East Side stormed the stage at one point to protest the impending "destruction" of East River Park. The move drew some criticism from attendees, to which East River Park Action responded in an Instagram post with: "Is the city's destruction of our park more onerous than disrupting the doggies in costume?"

The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade returns on Oct. 23

ICYMI: The 31st edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade takes place again at the East River Park Amphitheater on Oct. 23 from noon to 3 p.m.

The Farmer's Dog, a service that delivers freshly made pet food, is this year's sponsor. Organizers are also looking for volunteers to help on Oct. 23 (must love dogs?). Volunteer info is at this link.

 

The Dog Parade, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018 and 2019. Last year's pandemic version was mostly virtual with a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B.

Thanks to Steven for the photo!

At the 30th annual (and 1st virtual) Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

Another year, another challenge to overcome for the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. 

In 2018, there was the issue with paying for the insurance and liability policy that the Parks Department suddenly required. In the end there was a sponsor and new location at the East River Park amphitheater.

With the pandemic this year, the city wasn't going to allow such a large gathering like this. So organizer Jennifer-Jo Moyer (top left) brought it online for the 30th annual (and 1st virtual) Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade on Saturday afternoon. 

The livestream event included photo and video entries from participants around the country as well as a Zoom portion for people to show off their dogs' costumes. 

Moyer, along with NY1 reporter Stephanie Simon (top right) serving as emcee, were live from a previously undisclosed location, which turned out the be the backyard at Lucky at 168 Avenue B. Several people brought their dogs here for a mini on-location portion of the event.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos from Avenue B ... which include local winners Ziggy as Falkor from "The NeverEnding Story" ...

... and Breezy and Starlet as the Rainbow and Stars...

Moyer hopes to do the event live next fall with the 31st annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. There's an archived video of the virtual dog parade on Facebook.