Porthcawl to host a Dogs Trust ‘Snoopy’ trail

Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s popular sidekick from the cartoon strip Peanuts, will be the star attraction of a Dogs Trust Mini-Snoopy Trail planned for Porthcawl next year.

At a meeting on Tuesday 18 May, Cabinet heard that Dogs Trust, which has a rehoming centre in Bridgend, is asking local councils to host mini-trails as an extension of the main A Dog’s Trail with Snoopy in Cardiff.

The event, which aims to raise awareness and promote health and well-being while bringing businesses, artists and communities together, is set to take place between March and June 2022. It will feature at least six Snoopy sculptures, all painted by local artists, community groups and schools.

The council has agreed to support the event by enabling Porthcawl to host it, recruiting learning programme participants and providing funding from the Tourism Events Fund.

Cllr Charles Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration, said: “A Dog’s Trail with Snoopy will be a brilliant opportunity for Porthcawl, helping to boost the local economy while benefiting a fantastic charity which already has links to the county borough.

“The proposal builds on the well-established Wild in Art trail model, which has delivered more than 50 similar art trails around the world. When Cardiff hosted a Snowdogs trail in 2017, it attracted 350,000 visitors over 10 weeks and generated £10.5m for the local economy, so this promises to deliver multiple benefits for the county borough.

“The Snoopy sculptures will offer a colourful display of art across the town, and as well as supporting the community, tourism and local economy, the associated learning programme will also ensure that children from local schools can get involved.

“We have discussed this with stakeholders in Porthcawl through our Destination Management Group and Coastal Partnership, and of course we will continue to engage with all stakeholders including traders, town council and schools to ensure the town as a whole receives maximum benefit from this exciting project for 2022.”