A dog swimming event held at the historic Saltdean Lido, featuring multiple sessions and breed meet-ups to raise funds for the Saltdean Lido Trust.
Dogtember 2026 is coming to Saltdean Lido over four weekends, starting 12 and 13 September and running through to 3 and 4 October. It's the biggest dog swimming event in the UK, run as a fundraiser for the Saltdean Lido Trust, the charity that looks after the Grade II* listed modernist lido. The venue itself is a bit of a local landmark: a crescent-shaped, 40m outdoor heated pool designed by architect Richard William Herbert Jones and opened in 1938.
Each day there are four 90-minute sessions, plus one quiet session for dogs who might find the crowd a bit much, and breed meet-ups hosted throughout. The whole thing is run by volunteers, and the site is fully secure with a permanently manned gate, so dogs can be off-lead. The pool is 40m and heated, with wide, shallow steps for easy access, and there's a gently sloping splash pool with a slide and water spouts for the less confident swimmers.
Petgevity is the official sponsor this year, and they've highlighted how swimming and hydrotherapy can help dogs build strength, recover from injury, and keep their mobility while being gentle on the joints. Between the breed meet-ups and the different session types, there's plenty of room to find a slot that suits your dog's pace.
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It's at Saltdean Lido, The Oval Park, Saltdean Park Rd, Saltdean, Brighton BN2 8SP. The sessions run across four weekends from 12 and 13 September to 3 and 4 October 2026.
