[dropcap]B[/dropcap]uda has spoken and the Wiener dog races are here to stay.
More than 23,000 people converged on Buda in 2017 for the 20th Annual Buda Lions Club Country Fair and Wiener Dog Races, said Keith Handrick, Buda Lions Club representative.
The number came as a post event report, which is required for a city-sponsored event, given to the Buda City Council June 19.
Buda’s event includes arts and crafts vendors, a best dressed dog contest, bake-off, a sanctioned cook-off and wiener dog races.
Handrick said event expenses totaled over $88,000. $31,000 was donated back to nonprofits in the area that had helped out with the event.
“This year our event was bigger than it has been the last three years,” Handrick said, “We had a lot more sponsors this year.”
Handrick expressed gratitude to the city, especially the Parks and Recreation department, the public works department and the police department for all their help organizing the event.
The post-event report showed Buda gave the Lions Club a total of $10,500 in hotel occupancy tax funds for the event, which included a $4,500 scholarship.
Handrick said the number of attendees who rode the shuttle bus from Cabela’s to the fair grounds totaled 4,000 on Saturday and around 3,000 on Sunday.
Those numbers did not include the attendees who parked downtown and walked to the event.
Handrick said 65 participants competed in the cook-off, while 76 craft vendors attended the fair. Of the 16 food vendors that took part, 14 were nonprofit organizations.
Handrick said 312 dogs raced, both pure and mixed breed, and that most of them were from Texas; some dogs hailed from New Mexico and Oklahoma.
According to the report, Buda only has one hotel that is pet-friendly year round, but typically most hotels in Buda have made an exception in the past for the weekend of the event.
Buda has 376 hotel rooms, with 294 pet friendly, according to the report.
Handrick was optimistic about the event’s future, even as proposed improvements coming to City Park will force the Lion’s to move the event site.
David Marino, Buda public information officer, said the city has not yet determined an alternative event site for next year.
“Next year the races will not be at City Park,” Marino said. “We’ll be meeting with Buda Lions Club in the future to determine that information.”
Marino said the races would return to City Park in 2019 with the potential for many more attendants due to the larger capacity of the park.
Buda voters approved park improvements as part of Proposition 5 of the 2014 bond.
“The park will be able to accommodate more spectators for the 2019 Wiener Dog Races,” Marino said.
