Dachshund Owners Celebrate Their Four-Legged Friends at Texas WienerFest

By Ally Bonsall

Photography By Ally Bonsall

Reporting Texas

More than 2,000 dachshunds filled the grounds of Sherwood Forest Faire on Halloween for the fourth annual Texas WienerFest.  

Halloween morning stirred with the pitter-patter of thousands of paws. Adorned in costumes, the tiny dogs traipsed through the morning dew at Sherwood Forest Faire, their low-rider stomachs mere inches from the grass, with their excited owners in tow.

“It’s kind of like this weird little wiener community,” dachshund owner Nicole Brooks said. 

Texas Wienerfest invited pet owners to bring their four-legged friends out to party. The day-long event was filled with festivities including PupCup eating contests, photo opportunities, a doxie-themed shopping market and pet races. 

The festival began in 2023, and attendance has grown each year, according to Zilker Bark, the pet photography company that founded the event. The company says on its website that the 2025 festival drew 1,713 doxies. For WienerFest 2026,2,254 dachshunds and 5,119 people attended, the company said on Instagram. 

For the festival’s fourth year, they fetched an even larger stage for the doxies to roam. The meetup was previously hosted at Star Hill Ranch, but this year, it moved to Sherwood Forest Faire, about 40 miles east of Austin near McDade, to accommodate larger attendance expectations. 

Morgan Vacek, Zilker Bark’s events operations director, said the move to Sherwood Forest Faire was one of her proudest achievements for the 2026 festival. 

“Having an event at this scale that is not only dog friendly but encouraged, it’s a unique experience,” Vacek said.

The festival donates a portion of funds raised to Central Texas Dachshund Rescue and All Texas Dachshund Rescue, which provide foster homes and veterinary care for dachshunds in need.  

Central Texas Dachshund Rescue volunteer Beth Goldstein said providing the proper veterinary care for their furry patients results in very high veterinary bills. The funds received from Zilker Bark help ensure bills can be paid, and the dogs get the care they need. 

Beyond the wagging tails, race courses and curated Halloween costumes, owners traded pet stories, laughed together and celebrated their shared love of their preferred breed. 

“I feel people don’t really understand it until you’re at one of these events where you realize how much in common you have with people from all over the place and all walks of life just because you love the same breed of dog,” Vacek said. 

Austin residents Ellie and Andre Steyl, attended the festival with their two dachshunds, Harbor and Captain, for the first time this year. They said the community built from being a dachshund owner has opened the door for human connection in their everyday life. 

“Somehow they become part of your personality. You become a weenie dog owner, and everyone will spot each other from a distance, and we have to come and let them meet,” Andre Steyl said. 

Researchers suggest that pet ownership can create opportunities for new connections to form and communities to flourish. 

Molly Delzio, a graduate research assistant for the Human-Animal Bond Lab at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, said that while the bond between pets and humans is special, pets can help their owners form new connections. 

Kaia Story has made those connections a regular part of her life. Story is an avid dachshund meetup attendee and drove from Dallas for Texas WienerFest. She keeps up with meetup events through a Dallas dachshund-themed Instagram group. 

Not only do humans make new friends through themed meetups like Texas WienerFest, but the pups have their share of mingling too. 

“Your dog gets to meet so many dogs, so it’s really fun,” Story said.

For Delzio, events like Texas WienerFest can build real connections that go beyond just pet ownership. 

“I think events like these provide a really great opportunity, not just to celebrate the bond that people have with their dogs, but also to let that bond be a bridge to these kinds of social relationships,” Delzio said.