300 Costumed Corgis Take Over Old Town Fort Collins This October

Picture 300 corgis. Now put little costumes on them. Now march them down College Avenue while the fall leaves are turning and half of Fort Collins is standing on the sidewalk losing their minds.

That is the Tour de Corgi. And on Saturday, October 3, 2026, it comes back to Civic Center Park and Old Town for its 12th year.

Most people outside Northern Colorado have no idea this exists. That is a shame, because it is one of the best free things you can do in the state on an early-October Saturday. The organizers call it "the cutest parade in the country," and honestly, I am not here to argue with them.

Bikes, Beers, Bands...and Butts

Fort Collins has a reputation for the first three. Bikes. Beers. Bands. The Tour de Corgi added a fourth B, and it is exactly what you think it is. Fluffy corgi butts. That is the whole pitch. That is the branding. Somebody in Fort Collins looked at a wall of stubby-legged dogs waddling away from them and thought, yeah, that is the marketing.

Here is how the day actually runs. It kicks off with a costume contest, which is where the real chaos lives, and it wraps with the parade itself circling through Old Town. The 2025 edition ran a "Rock On!" rock-star theme, so people are showing up with tiny leather jackets and guitars strapped to dogs that come up to your ankle. Each year has a theme, and each year the costumes get more unhinged. This is a good thing.

And these are not all local dogs, either. Recent editions have pulled 300-plus corgis from across the country. People drive in. People fly in. For a parade of dogs the size of a loaf of bread.

The route, if you want the good spots

The parade exits Civic Center Park to the north, crosses College Avenue at LaPorte, heads down the east side of College, and then loops through Old Town Square before circling back to the stage. So if you want the best view, the east side of College or anywhere around Old Town Square is your play. Get there early. This thing draws a crowd.

Watching is free. But the organizers ask for a suggested $5 donation per person, and you can send it through Venmo or PayPal over at tourdecorgi.org. Five bucks. That is less than a beer in Old Town, and it goes somewhere that matters, which brings me to the part people skip past.

Where your five dollars actually goes

This is not just a cute event for the sake of cute. Proceeds go to three local dog groups. 4 Paws Pet Pantry. Colorado Corgis and Friends Rescue. And Bandit's K9Care. So the whole costumed-corgi carnival is really a rescue fundraiser wearing a very good disguise.

I mean that is the move, right? You show up for the tiny dogs in tiny outfits, you have the best morning of your month, and on the way out you have quietly helped fund pet food and rescue work for animals that needed it. Nobody feels lectured. Everybody wins. That is how you actually get people to give.

If you want in with your own dog

Watching is one thing. Marching is another. If you want your corgi in the parade or the costume contest, every adult participant needs a wristband. No wristband, no parade, no contest. That is the rule.

The smart way to handle it is Friday night. There is a pre-registration event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center, where you can grab your wristband and merch ahead of time and skip the Saturday lines. And trust me, on an event pulling this many people, the Saturday line is real. Hayley would tell you I am physically incapable of waiting in a line without complaining, so Friday pre-reg is exactly the kind of thing I would do.

Why this belongs on your fall list

Early October in Old Town Fort Collins is already about as good as Colorado gets. The College Avenue leaves are turning, the patios are still open, and the whole downtown grid has that shoulder-season energy before the holidays take over.

Now drop 300 costumed corgis into the middle of it.

And here is the part that ties back to what Hayley and I watch all the time. Fort Collins keeps landing on those "best places to live" lists, and it is not an accident. It is stuff like this. Old Town is walkable, the events are genuinely local, and the town leans into its own weirdness instead of sanding it down. When people ask us why Fort Collins real estate holds the way it does, the honest answer is partly the market and partly this. A downtown that throws a corgi parade for charity is a downtown people want to live near.

So mark it. Saturday, October 3, 2026. Civic Center Park and Old Town Fort Collins. Bring five dollars, bring a friend, and if you have got a corgi, bring the costume.

The leaves, the butts, the good cause. That is a solid Saturday.