The 10th edition of the Bark Back Benefit music festival will return to the waterfront in Lake Worth Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, a gathering of top local bands, food and drink vendors, and animal rescues that again will answer the age-old question, “Who let the dogs out?”
Taking place at Bryant Park Amphitheater from noon to 9:30 p.m., the festival also will include a car show and freak bike display, an auction and raffles, a kids’ zone, canine costume contest and the always popular First Responders Rescue Runway Show, where firefighters and police walk adoptable dogs across the stage.
An all-ages, pet-friendly event, the Bark Back Benefit typically draws about 2,000 people and raises nearly $50,000 for area pet rescues, including the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, Barky Pines Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, South Florida Mutt Rescue and Touch of Grey Rescue. Cost is $15 for general admission, $50 for VIP, available online and at the gate.
The silent auction will include several items that should be of interest to music fans, including an acoustic guitar donated and signed by country star Kenny Chesney, an autographed CD from Chris Stapleton, a signed album from Brothers Osborne and sheet music signed by Old Dominion.
Bark Back Benefit was founded in 2014 (it took a year off for COVID) by Mick Swigert, of local ska-rock band Spred the Dub, and his mother, Jacque Batcha, after they lost three dogs to illness and natural causes within a three-month span.
“We wanted to take that and turn it into something positive. One thing near and dear to our hearts are rescue dogs, rescue animals, cats included. It’s always been how we’ve gotten our dogs. I’ve got two sitting, looking at me right now, that I got from Peggy Adams,” Swigert says, with a laugh.
Bark Back 10 includes another stellar lineup of local musicians: 561 Music School (noon-12:30 p.m.), Dominic DeLaney (12:45-1:30 p.m.), Jakob Takos & The Connection (2:05-2:50 p.m.), Bargain Bin Heroes (3-3:50 p.m.), Dead Bronco (4-4:50 p.m.), The Dub Collectors (5-5:50 p.m.), Mariachi de mi Tierra (6-6:15 p.m.), Spred the Dub (7-8 p.m.), Passafire (8:15-9 p.m.).
A scene from the 2023 Bark Back Benefit, which is pet friendly and the atmosphere is exceedingly chill. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The pet costume contest is from 1:35 to 2 p.m., and the first responders runway show will be from 6:15 to 6:50 p.m., with participants from Palm Beach Country Fire Rescue Station 91 and officers from District 14 of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
“The past couple of years, every single dog that has walked the runway has been adopted,” Swigert says.
The iconic image included in Bark Back billboards, posters, shirts and other merch features the distinctive black-and-white face of Rudeboy, a dog that Swigert had for nearly a decade after adopting him from a bull terrier rescue in Miami.
Rudeboy was a fixture at Spred the Dub concerts and on the band’s graphics until he died from leukemia in 2023. And now everyone who works on Bark Back has a tattoo of Rudeboy, including Swigert’s mom.
After Rudeboy’s death, it took about six months before Swigert got used to the idea of adopting another dog. He went to Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach, where he had found his other dog, Paisley, more than six years prior. There he saw Gator, a skinny, sorrowful mutt.
“He pulled the wool over my eyes a little bit. In the shelter, he looked like the most timid, depressing-looking dog you could imagine, and as soon as I got him home, he was bouncing off the walls, excited, I guess, to be in a house,” Swigert says. “Now he’s got a basket filled with a hundred toys and he’s put on some pounds and is eating well. They’re great dogs.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Bark Back Benefit
WHEN: Noon-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18
WHERE: Bryant Park Amphitheater, 100 S. Golfview Road, Lake Worth Beach
TICKETS: $15 for general admission, $50 for VIP
INFORMATION: BarkBackBenefit.org
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell.
