Tickets for West Lothian Pugfest sell out in one hour

Tickets for Scotland's first ever festival dedicated entirely to Ppugs sold out in just an hour - with fans causing the ticket website to crash in the process.
Trevor 6 runs through a tunnel at the Pug Fest.Trevor 6 runs through a tunnel at the Pug Fest.
Trevor 6 runs through a tunnel at the Pug Fest.

Proving themselves to be the biggest pug fans in the UK, Scottish dog lovers snapped up 250 tickets in just two minutes and all 700 were gone within the hour.

Overwhelmed by demand, the organisers of the festival have decided to add an extra date to satisfy fans who don’t want to miss out.

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PugFest will now be held over two days on 28 and 29 April 2018 at the Scottish National Equine Centre in West Lothian after organisers launched an appeal to find a venue last week.

Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.
Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.

Tickets for the extra date will go on sale tonight at 9pm.

PugFest started three years ago in South Wales in memory of one amazing rescued pug called Poppy, and since then 125,000 visitors have been to various PugFest events across the UK.

Co-organiser Martin Clowes, 49, said: “In three years we’ve done a number of PugFests, and we do tend to sell out quickly, especially in a new venue, but we’ve never ever sold out in an hour, and the system has never crashed before.

“We were stunned and very happy because it’s great that we’re going to have a very busy festival, and by adding an extra day we’ll have a bit more money to give to rescues as well.”

Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.
Ruby 4, Lily 4, Hoghog 6 & Pombear 5 at Pug Fest.
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Scottish fans have long called for the festival, nicknamed the Glastonbury for pugs, to come to Scotland and the event will be Highland Games themed.

He added: “Everyone is really excited about the event already. We have wanted to hold PugFest in Scotland for a long time and we are so pleased it’s finally happening.

“There is a real buzz about the event already, and we have already had offers from Scottish people who want to have stalls at the event.

“We think it’ll be called ‘Och Aye Pug The Noo’. I can just see all the pugs in kilts already.”

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The festival is the creation of Martin and his son Rob, 29, whose pug became a global sensation on Twitter after racking up 17,000 followers from all over the world.

The father and son decide to hold a pug meet-up, bringing together people with a love of a breed and those fans who had been following Poppy on social media.

But tragedy struck shortly before the pug meet up.

Poppy got very poorly and the event was put on hold as she was rushed to the vets.

What Rob thought was Hayfever or a cold turned out to be a tumour.

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And after loads of X - Ray’s vet’s decided there was nothing more that could be done for Poppy in 2014.

With tributes to Poppy pouring in, and her death trending on social media, Rob decided to host PugFest in her memory.

Martin added: “I said to Rob if 50 people turn up with their dogs that’ll be great.

“But more than 1,500 turned up. There were no car parking spaces left, people were double parked on the road within 15 minutes.”

Martin plans to invite local based rescue charities to fundraise at the event, and he is also looking for a local rescue pug to invite to attend on either day.

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