09/11/2026
The Elbow Foundation is firing up the smoker and hitting the competition trail!
This Saturday, we’re headed to Pequot Lakes for The Babinski Foundation Backyard BBQ Competition.
We know how to host a rib competition… now we’ll see if we can actually cook! 🔥💨
Wish us luck as we try to bring some hardware back to Brainerd!
🐾🍂 The Babinski Foundation Fall Festival! 🍂🐾
Join us as we celebrate a decade of rescue! Our 5th annual Fall Festival, Sponsored by Lakeside Simplicity, will take place on September 12th from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. In honor of our shelter’s 10th anniversary, this year’s event is bigger and better than ever. Check out the lineup below:
🧘♀️🐾Fitness for the Animals (9:00 AM – 10:00 AM)
Kick off the morning with the 5K Wilderness Trek, hosted by Nisswa Anytime Fitness. Check-in begins at 8:00 AM for a 9:00 AM start. Prefer a slower pace? Join Treff Brock with Guiding Elements Yoga and some of our adorable shelter pups for Puppy Yoga at 9:00 AM. Register through the Fall Festival website linked below!
🥞🚨Free Pancake Breakfast (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM)
Not a runner? No problem. If pancakes are more your speed, join us for a free breakfast hosted by our local Police Chiefs and Sheriffs.
🎃🐈⬛All-Day Festival Fun (11:00 AM – 7:00 PM)
We’re bringing back the classics and adding exciting new traditions! Enjoy a Food Truck Festival (this year's lineup is crazy!), expanded carnival games, hayrides, and family friendly activities. Browse our massive Craft Fair, Farmers Market, and a Flea Market packed with unique finds. Oh, and don’t forget to enter your apple pie into the Apple Pie Baking Contest or take place in the Kid's Pie Eating Competition!
🔥Backyard BBQ Competition & Tasting! (10:00 AM to 6:00 PM)
A delicious and fun filled part of the festival! Fifteen teams will compete for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and People's Choice awards. The Babinski Foundation will supply the racks of ribs, and the teams will cook them up for the judges and the community to determine who makes the best ribs around. If you don't want to cook, but do want to eat... public rib sales begin at 4:30 PM! Sign up through our Fall Festival website (linked below).
🤑New this year: Win Big! To celebrate 10 years of operation, we’re hosting a $10,000 Raffle, a Classic Car Raffle, a Duck Derby, Pull-tabs, Bingo, and a massive Balloon Drop with over $2,000 in prizes. Plus, don’t miss the Fireman Fashion Show, where local heroes will strut their stuff alongside shelter animals to help them find forever homes!
Many activities are free including the petting zoo and and bounce house. Low-fee tickets are available for pony rides, pumpkin decorating, hair styling, face painting, potato target shooting, and more!
🎵🎶Catch Russ Parish and the Lone Oaks from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, with openers Roy Allen from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, AJ Spoff from 12:00 to 2:30 PM, and Eric Whitson from 2:30 to 4:00 PM. Live music will be playing all day long, so grab a b**r from Jackpine Brewery, some grub from our Food Truck Fest, and enjoy the show!
FOR MORE INFO & ACTIVITY REGISTRATION VISIT OUR FALL FESTIVAL WEBSITE: https://www.babinskifoundation.org/fallfestivalinformation
A huge thank you to all of our amazing sponsors, including our other top sponsors: Radtke Service, Hyperbaric Center of Minnesota, Molly is Hope, Hubbard Broadcasting, and Brainerd Animal Hospital!
All proceeds support the care and rescue of stray and abandoned animals. ❤
