“It’s our hope to continue producing it, but it won’t continue during this year’s fair,” Mandy Clenenden told the Petaluma Argus-Courier.
The headline-grabbing World’s Ugliest Dog Contest will not be held at this year’s Petaluma Fair, according to organizers.
When the fair, formerly known as the Sonoma-Marin Fair, returns in June it will be the first year the city of Petaluma will have a direct role in the event after it assumed managerial control of the fairgrounds on Jan. 1, 2024.
The takeover effectively ended a long-simmering public dispute over the future of the property between the city of Petaluma and the 4th District Agricultural Association (4th DAA), an organization with a state-appointed board whose 50-year lease on the property had finally run out.
The 4th DAA holds the licensing to the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, which has drawn a national audience as a panel of judges picks which dog among the contestants is the ugliest of them all. Past winners – like 2024’s Wild Thang – were featured on NBC’s “Today” show.
But this year the organization won’t be putting on that event, said Mandy Clenenden, CEO of the 4th DAA, who did not give details on when it might return.
“It’s our hope to continue producing it, but it won’t continue during this year’s fair,” Clenenden told the Petaluma Argus-Courier.
Instead, she said, the 4th DAA will focus on “traditional exhibits” such as livestock shows, Farmer’s Day and arts and crafts.
“We’re looking forward to shining a huge spotlight on agriculture,” Clenenden said.
The Petaluma Fair runs June 19-June 22 at the Petaluma Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma.
