Rules

The NC Fourth of July Festival is running a fundraiser in the form of a contest to vote for the Dog Grand Marshall for the 2026 NC Fourth of July Festival Parade. Pet owners will submit an original photo of their dog, the dog’s name, owner's name(s) and a short paragraph about their dog. People will cast votes for their favorite dog with the dog that gets the most votes being elected the winner. 

• Participants will pay an entry fee of $5 to submit a candidate. The entry fee is counted as 5 votes for the candidate they submit.
• Voting requires a minimum donation of $1 where $1 equals 1 vote.

All proceeds collected, minus administrative costs associated with running the contest, will be donated to the NC Fourth of July Festival.

Candidate submissions and associated voting is open from 6:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Friday, May 8, 2026 until 6:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Once the voting has closed, the dog with the most votes (the top fundraiser) wins the contest and the title of Dog Grand Marshall for the 2026 NC Fourth of July Festival Parade! The winning dog will be awarded the opportunity to be featured as a parade participant along with receiving other prizes. The 2nd and 3rd place fundraisers will also be eligible to receive prizes.

There are no limits on the number of dogs that a single participant may submit for the contest, however, an individual dog may only have one submission. Duplicate submissions for the same dog will be removed. Votes for the duplicate submission cannot be combined with any other submission. The submission fee and any voting for a removed duplicate entry cannot be refunded.

There is no limit on the number of times a person may vote in the contest. All votes can be cast for a single dog or for multiple dogs. Those submitting a dog to the contest may also vote on their own candidate or any other candidate as many times as they want. Each vote requires a $1 donation.

The candidate with the most votes (highest fundraising total) will be the 1st place winner of the contest. The candidate with the second highest total and the 3rd highest total will be the 2nd and 3rd place winners respectively. In the event of a tie, the contest managers will draw a name or names from a hat to resolve the tie.

Photos submitted must meet the following requirements and rules to be eligible for participation in the Contest:

• Photos must include only one dog and no other animals or humans.
• The dog should be the principal subject in the photo.
• Photos should be of high quality with a resolution of at least 150 dpi, with a minimum of 300 dpi preferred.
• Entrants represent and warrant that their photos are original and that they own all the rights, including copyright and other intellectual property rights, in the photos they provide.
• Entrants represent and warrant that photos they submit do not infringe upon or violate any third party rights.
• Entrants may not use AI technologies to generate submitted images.
• The animal cannot appear in distress, in any inappropriate or offensive setting/context, or engaged in any inappropriate or offensive activities.
• Ensure that the photo is sharp and in focus with a clean background, with no third-party products, artwork, logos, names, photographs, or advertising displayed.
• If contest managers deem it necessary to remove participant photos for quality issues, participants will have the opportunity to submit a new photo. However, refunds cannot be processed for either the submission fee and/or voting fees if the participant chooses not to submit a new photo and continue with the contest.
• Contest managers will not be held liable for any disruption in voting that may be caused while a participant photo is unavailable.
• The contest managers reserve the right to disqualify any entry based on objectionable, inappropriate, offensive or prohibited content. Disqualified entries are not eligible for a refund of their entry fee or voting fees submitted in support of the disqualified entry.

Photo Files Accepted: .JPG and .PNG 

All photos must be original and free from copyright. Submitted photos become the property of the NC Fourth of July Festival who are free to copy, distribute, display, disseminate, or otherwise reproduce without the owner's express permission.

Votes (Donations) can only be cast using the GoGo platform. No means for offline voting will be supported. The Committee is unable to process refunds for any submission fees or voting donations.