February, 2024
Pet Rock Fest fights the winter blues

Help Pet Rock Fest Find Their Forever Home

Nonprofit Pet Rock Fest is the largest animal festival in New England and a leading animal welfare organization.

We find ourselves after 25 years without a home for our annual flagship festival (also called the Pet Rock Festival). We’re in search of a new permanent location and we’re hoping you can help.

We founded Pet Rock Fest in 1999 as an animal welfare nonprofit and event and have been increasingly successful each year. We have hosted our annual festival in a select few venues, and through no fault of our own, are searching again.

The Pet Rock Festival is an annual event held on the Sunday following Labor Day weekend (usually the second Sunday in September). It is an afternoon expo/festival that includes live music, vendors, vegetarian food, contests, doggie water park, awards, performances, and most importantly, more than 150 animal welfare organizations who set up and share their message and mission.

ALL proceeds from the festival are distributed to New England-based animal welfare organizations, including shelters, cruelty watchdogs, sanctuaries, rescue leagues and many others. Regular recipients of our festival include Red Rover/KIND News, Foster Parrots, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Maple Farm Sanctuary and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), to name but a few. $1,000, $500 and $250 awards are also awarded to rescue groups and shelters that win our coveted “lottery” and “adoptable dog parade” during the festival.

Pet Rock Fest has distributed more than half a million dollars since its inception to worthy animal causes in New England. We’ve also given to groups such as Mass. Vest-A Dog, Dog Orphans, the Community Cat Center, the Worcester Animal Rescue League and the Second Chance Animal Shelter, and contributed to funds for veterinary care, as well as reward funds to help catch perpetrators of animal cruelty.

Starting at the Hebert Candy Mansion in 1999, several years later we outgrew the location and were hosted by Quinsigamond Community College for many years, followed by many years at Wyman Gordon in Grafton. The relationships have been wonderful, and we’d be happy to connect you with representatives from the venues for references.

We hope to find a location with a similar-sized space and the willingness to allow us to transform this space into a well-organized and reputable one-day event that raises money and awareness for such an important cause. Ideally, we’re looking for a large, fenced-in field, accessible from major highways or routes, with ample parking. Facilities and amenities would be a plus, but we’re very accustomed to bringing in our own.  

We are a well-oiled machine, and Pet Rock Fest organizers professionally coordinate, set up, and break down the event with the utmost respect and consideration for the venue and its owners.

We welcome any suggestions or recommendations you may have to offer us assistance for our worthy venture.

Not only would the collaboration be beneficial to us, but is a positive alliance for the town and/or venue that ultimately hosts us. Our reputation is stellar, and we’ve helped hundreds of charities with thousands of dollars since we started.

Please visit our website PetRockFest.org and visit our Facebook page to learn how we got our start, what our Festival is all about and many opportunities to visit our past years history of success.

Thank you for your assistance and consideration in this time-sensitive matter.

Got an idea? Got a place? Give us a shout at [email protected]!

Pet Rock Fest Plans Big Raffle during March Madness
Please donate items!

The Cat's Meow Online Raffle

Hello businesses, or anyone who is in a position to donate,

We're reaching out with a special request for your support in our upcoming online raffle hosted by Pet Rock Fest during March Madness (or until we gather a substantial number of items whichever comes first).

Let's delve into why your contribution is so crucial.

Pet Rock Fest, New England's premier animal benefit, marked its 25th anniversary this past September with a move to a new location, a milestone that brought both excitement and unforeseen challenges. Despite overwhelming support from the community, the event faced difficulties at its new venue, where parking constraints and unpredictable weather posed significant hurdles.

When the festival kicked off at SAC Park in Shrewsbury on Sunday, September 10, 2023, animal lovers streamed in, and the event was in full swing, with the rain holding off. However, logistical problems, particularly in parking, surfaced, and the clouds were getting fat and angry. Festival-goers, volunteers, and organizers collaboratively navigated these challenges, showcasing the resilient spirit that defines Pet Rock Fest.

Regrettably, the horrible weather, which showed no signs of letting up, compelled organizers to make the difficult decision to close down this milestone festival three hours early.

To offset some of the losses and continue supporting the numerous animal welfare organizations we champion annually, we're hosting a winter raffle. This initiative also aims to introduce more, smaller fundraising events sponsored by Pet Rock Fest throughout the year.

Can you assist us? We welcome a variety of items for our raffle, ranging from gift cards to pet supplies, toys, autographed memorabilia, to artwork. If it makes for a desirable prize, your donation would be immensely appreciated.

Pet Rock Fest's primary mission is to advocate for responsible pet ownership, kindness to all animals, raise awareness about animal cruelty, and educate the public on various animal-related issues.

Since its inception, Pet Rock Fest has donated more than a half million to worthy charities, including Red Rover (KIND News subscriptions), the MSPCA, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Mass Vest A Dog, Foster Parrots, Commonwealth Cats, the Worcester Animal Rescue League, Maple Farm Sanctuary, Echo Dog, Merrimack Feline Rescue, Second Chance Animal Shelter, Save a Sato, Dog Orphans, and countless other New England animal welfare organizations.

As with all our fundraisers, especially the annual festival, ALL proceeds benefit New England area animal welfare organizations, ranging from rescue groups to shelters, cruelty watchdogs, sanctuaries for rescued farm animals, to conservation efforts.

Your support enables us to assist many animals throughout the year. We continue these efforts year-round and always welcome your support and donations.

Please reach out via email at [email protected] and let us know. Email is preferred, and we often respond more promptly than with a phone call.

Pet Rock Fest Funds Animal Kindness Magazine Subscriptions to Multiple Massachusetts Classrooms

Pet Rock Fest is pleased to announce its ongoing support for Red Rover's publication, KIND News, through a generous donation. This contribution will fund numerous magazine subscriptions for 4th and 5th-grade classrooms across Worcester County.

KIND News, a publication that has long been endorsed by Pet Rock Fest, perfectly aligns with our mission—a mission born out of a desire to educate children about the significance of kindness to animals, sparked by a cruelty case that inspired the festival's inception.

"Teaching children humanity contributes to a more humane adult world overall," notes founding partner Charlene Arsenault. "If kids aren't being taught kindness to animals at home, at least they'll be exposed to these values at school, where they spend a significant portion of their time. Instilling the importance of kindness to animals in young minds helps shape their personalities and fosters compassion and empathy for all living creatures.”

Pet Rock Fest meticulously selects beneficiaries based on their impact on animal welfare in the New England area. With an abundance of outstanding animal welfare organizations in the region, we channel our proceeds towards charities supporting various causes, from shelters to law reform to sanctuaries for farm animals.

“Pet Rock Fest is delighted to reinstate our relationship with KIND News,” adds Pet Rock Fest founding partner Jeannie Hebert. “It is so important for young people to realize at an early age the importance of kindness to animals. It helps to develop their personalities in dealing with later life issues and cultivate relationships with the best friends they will ever have!”

The funds for this year will facilitate the distribution of Kind News magazine to 22 Worcester elementary teachers and approximately 600 students throughout 2024. Heidi Colonna, the writer and co-editor of KIND News, expresses gratitude, saying, “We're thrilled to continue Pet Rock's celebration of the human-animal bond in these classrooms through articles that explore how to be a responsible pet caregiver, how our pets communicate through body language, and inspirational people taking action to help. From young people donating supplies to animal shelters to NFL players speaking up for pets in crisis, the 'humane hero' stories featured are really powerful, because they're modeling kind actions which we hope will inspire other acts of kindness."

In addition to giving more than a half million in donations to animal welfare organizations since 1999, Pet Rock Fest has also supported several reward funds in local animal cruelty cases that aid in finding perpetrators of that cruelty and have also paid for medical bills for pet guardians who were unable to afford it.

Apart from donating over half a million dollars to animal welfare organizations since 1999, Pet Rock Fest has supported reward funds in local animal cruelty cases and covered medical bills for pet guardians facing financial constraints