LONG BEACH, Calif. — Visitors to Pine Ave. on Saturday might find themselves knee deep in dogs. Fat, fluffy, tawny or tri-colored, low-riding corgis of all types will converge on the block between 4th and 5th Streets for a summer social and paint "pawty," organized by the co-founder of the popular canine confab known as So Cal Corgi Beach Day.
“The street is already closed, so we’re taking advantage of that situation. We’re just inviting people to bring their corgis,” said event co-founder Kelly McLemore, adding that most of the festivities will take place at the Pie Bar and its parklet. Due to COVID, Long Beach closed the street to cars to help spur business at Pine Ave. restaurants.
While the summer social is free to anyone who wants to ogle and pet the dogs and shop at a handful of the event’s corgi-centric vendors, visitors who buy a ticket will be able to participate in a "paint pawty." For a $45 admission fee, attendees are supplied with a canvas, paint and an instructor to teach them how to craft an image of a corgi in a VW bus. Admission also includes a beverage and a piece of pie.
“The main idea is just to get everybody out and about again,” said McLemore, who has been hosting outdoor, socially-distanced corgi paint pawtys at various places throughout the pandemic, including the Rodeo 39 Public Market in Garden Grove. Saturday’s event is timed to take advantage of the state’s reopening and “get the corgi community machine turned up" in advance of So Cal Corgi Beach Day's return.
She’s planning to do a series of summer events in Orange County, Long Beach and the Inland Empire to prime the legions of corgi lovers who turn out for her biannual Huntington Beach event. The last time So Cal Corgi Beach Day was held, in 2019, it drew 14,000 people.
McLemore expects the next one, taking place Oct. 30, to be even bigger because of the pandemic puppy craze.
“A lot of people have gotten corgis in the past two years,” McLemore said.
McLemore herself is an old timer. She got her first corgi in 2007. Now 14, Mr. Pickles, as he’s known, inspired So Cal Corgi Nation and the many events the group now hosts.
Mr. Pickles was recovering from ACL surgery, and McLemore and her husband were looking to get him out of the house, so they went on Facebook to arrange a meet and greet with other corgi owners. Fifteen corgis showed up. Deciding it was a success, they hosted another one three months later. Seventy-five corgis came to the party, after which it was game on.
Chalk it up to their big dog personality in a little dog body or their fluffy necks and rear ends. Corgis have a following and, thanks to McLemore, an entire social scene.
“Every time we got together, it just kept multiplying,” she said. “Before we knew it, we were making stickers, T-shirts and having contests and food trucks. Now it’s a full blown festival.”