In case you ever needed another reason to visit California – aside from the golden beaches, great food and amazing weather – we’ve got you covered – and this one might be the best yet.
You’ve heard of Comic-con, well now there’s Corgi Con. Yep, a whole weekend dedicated to the short-legged but insanely cute little woofers.
There was fancy dress, a corgi derby, a class photo for the ‘University of Corgifornia’ as well as ‘Woofs and Belly Scratches, Maki Boo, Cote, Buttons, Bubba, and Gryff’, whatever or whoever they are.
More importantly, it was a load of corgis in custom-made costumes just being ridiculously cute.
Held in San Francisco, close to 1,000 corgis descended on to Ocean Beach for the event, and for those of us not lucky enough to be there, the happy dog owners and attendees thankfully shared the glorious couple of days on social media.
Brace yourself, because I’m about to throw a whole load of cuteness right your way:
Rather than letting the dogs run free, which would’ve been great but a little chaotic, the weekend did have some structure.
As Insider reports, there was a costume contest, a race, corgi Ninja Warrior, food, drink and more for the dogs and their humans to enjoy.
Of course, you can’t have corgis and not think of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, everyone knows she loves the little fellas.
And the good people at Corgi Con had it covered, too:
I’ve never seen someone so happy to wear one of those bearskin hats.
Unfortunately, after the death of her dog Willow, the Queen has decided to stop breeding corgis, bringing an end to her eight-decade-long love affair with the fluffy creatures.
Willow in particular had a special place in her heart as a descendant of the dog Susan who the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, received as an 18th birthday present.
Her most devoted companion, Willow accompanied the monarch as she travelled between her four royal homes.
A Buckingham Palace insider told the Daily Mail she’d been hit ‘extremely hard’ by the loss saying:
She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow’s death than any of them.
It is probably because Willow was the last link to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era.
Willow represents a significant thread running through the Queen’s life from her teenage years to her 90’s.
For many, many years she bred and raised corgis and to think that the last one has now gone is something of a milestone.
You may remember Willow from her starring role in the James Bond sketch created for the 2012 London Olympic Games:
If you need more corgi action in your life, get down to Huntington Beach this weekend, June 23, for the 2018 Corgi Beach Day, or keep your eye on Corgi Con for the next event.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.