Crufts 2026: Everything you need to know

The world's most famous dog show returns within a fortnight, with thousands of pooches expected from across the globe.

More than 18,600 canines will strut their paws around the halls of Birmingham's NEC this March, with owners hoping to win the ultimate title of Best in Show.

Crufts this year starts on Thursday 5 March and runs until Sunday 8 March, when the Best in Show winner is crowned that evening.

As well as the dogs being judged in their various categories - such as working, pastoral and terrier - competitions will be held to entertain the audience.

They include agility contests, freestyle heelwork to music and flyball - head-to-head relay races between dog teams - and a display by the West Midlands Police Dog team, organisers said.

Doors open from 08:15 GMT on the Thursday and close at 18:30 from Thursday to Saturday and slightly earlier, at 18:00, on the Sunday.

Events last until 20:05 each day, except on Sunday when the best in show winner will be announced from 20:30.

Those who want to go need to buy tickets and only dogs invited by The Kennel Club and assistance dogs are allowed into the show itself, a spokesperson for Crufts said.

The show will be held in its usual home at the NEC.

At the centre, the show will be in the first five exhibition halls and has been expanded this year to Hall 8, organisers said, to showcase more contests and exhibitors.

The NEC is fully accessible for wheelchair users with all levels served by lifts, a spokesperson added.

They have also launched a dog grooming championships for this year.

The NEC is right on the outskirts of Birmingham, on the border with Warwickshire and next to Birmingham Airport.

For drivers, the M6 and M42 motorways are the main routes to get to the site, with access off junction six of the M42 - the postcode for sat-navs is B40 1NT.

There are large car parks at the site with daily charges starting at £16 for cars, according to the site's managers, with reductions for paying in advance.

Shuttle buses will be running from the car parks to the main entrance

For rail passengers, the nearest station, Birmingham International, is a five minute walk away.

Those flying in to the airport can take a free Air-Rail link to the train station, and walk from there.

We saw a first last year - a dog from Italy won best in show for the first time.

Miuccia, a four-year-old whippet from Venice, came out top among more than 18,000 dogs from around the world to take the top award.

"It's really a dream come true," said her handler Giovanni Liguori. "I am truly overwhelmed. Miuccia performed her best".

The runner-up was Viking, a Tibetan mastiff from Romania.

The show saw 150,000 visitors come over the course of the event with a peak of nine million viewers on TV and 5.8 million on radio, organisers said.

The number of entries has risen compared to 2025, according to organisers, with 18,698 expected at the NEC from 5-8 March, a rise of 123 from last year.

More than 200 pedigree breeds will contest for the prizes with 4,299 from outside the UK - France with the most, 538, followed by Italy with 436 and Germany with 425.

There are 14 countries with only one competitor, including entrants from as far away as New Zealand, Peru and Argentina.

Labrador retrievers have the most dogs involved - 586 - closely followed, staff at Crufts said, by golden retrievers with 529 dogs.

Other breeds with large numbers of dogs entered are cocker spaniels (409), whippets (403), Staffordshire bull terriers (393) and border collies (310).

The Komondor has the fewest number of dogs, with three entered.

Crufts began in 1891 and is named after a real person, Charles Cruft, its founder, who started the show in Islington, London, with more than 2,000 dogs entered.

He started life selling "dog cakes" - food filled with meat, wheat and vegetables - and then became a travelling salesman before running dog shows.

He died in 1938 and his wife took over handling the event before selling it to the Kennel Club, which continues to run Crufts.

In the 1950s, the show became an obedience championship and moved venues to the Olympia in London.

Then, in 1991, Crufts' centenary show moved again, this time to the NEC in Birmingham - the first time the show moved from London and where it has stayed ever since.

Channel 4 will be covering Crufts again this year on TV and they will have a new, well-known face joining the presenting team.

The Traitors host, Claudia Winkleman, will be part of their line-up along with Clare Balding, Ellie Simmonds and Radzi Chinyanganya.

"I absolutely love dogs and there is literally nowhere else on earth I'd rather be," Winkleman said.

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