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2025 Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival offers multiple sporting dog demonstrations

Beyond the incredible sporting dog displays, this year’s festival also brought back DockDogs and offered a unique quilt-making workshop.

There will be four sporting dog demonstrations during the 2025 Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival. The free event is set for Saturday, October. 25, in downtown Wetumpka. Photo by Rob Lewis | Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival

Sporting dog demonstrations will be offered by four groups – Covey Flush, Madison and Co. Dog Trainers, Artemis Runs Kennel and Golbeck Gundogs – at the fourth annual Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival, WEWA.

The free festival, presented by the Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts, will be Saturday, October 25, in downtown Wetumpka.

“If you like dogs, the festival will be the place to be,” said Jennifer Eifert, director of The Kelly. “We are fortunate to have these four amazing demonstrations of sporting dogs this year. We’ve had sporting dog demos at the festival in the past, and they’ve always been a huge hit. We hope hunting enthusiasts will come to the festival to enjoy this unique offering.”

Sporting dog demonstrations will showcase dogs trained as flushers, pointers and retrievers.

“Sporting dogs possess incredible skill and athleticism, and it’s truly awe-inspiring to see them in action,” said Alabama Black Belt Adventures Director Pam Swanner, whose organization supports WEWA. “I encourage everyone who visits the Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival to take a few minutes and enjoy a sporting dog demonstration. You’ll be glad you did.”

In addition, DockDogs returns to the festival, with action on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25, in downtown Wetumpka, and includes three separate events:

  • Big Air– the first sport of DockDogs, this is the long jump of canine aquatics.
  • Extreme Vertical – considered the high jump of canine aquatics.
  • Speed Retrieve – a timed discipline involving the combination of run, jump, swim and retrieve.

The highlight of the DockDogs competition will be the Big Air final in the pro, semi-pro, contender and amateur divisions on October 25 at 3 p.m.

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“The festival is designed to have something for just about everyone,” Eifert said, “and we have learned that the animal demonstrations and events are some of the most treasured programs we offer.”

The festival also features live painting by five artists, a birds-of-prey demonstration by Raptor’s Ridge Wildlife Education, “Animal Encounters” from the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and a bow-making presentation by Skip Plumlee. River Dan and Joe Hare highlight the scheduled musical entertainment.

For the first time, WEWA will offer a three-hour quilt-making workshop with the world-renowned Gee’s Bend Quilters. The quilting workshop costs $100 and registration is available online at the WEWA website.

Visitors to the Kelly can also enjoy the “Art Gone Wild” art exhibition, and ALBBAA will also have members from the four-time championship fishing team from the University of Montevallo’s President’s Outdoor Scholars Program offering casting lessons. Youth participants will take home a Zebco Ready Pack rod-and-reel.

“It’s clear that the Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival has become the state’s premiere wildlife arts festival, and I encourage everyone to attend this family-friendly event,” Swanner said.

The Alabama Political Reporter is a daily political news site devoted to Alabama politics. We provide accurate, reliable coverage of policy, elections and government.

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The festival, which is free and open to the public, begins Saturday.