Timmy - Soft and Fluffy Alpacas Attack Us

**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW. ALPACAS ARE NOTORIOUSLY FUZZY AND ADORABLE. USE CAUTION WHILE VIEWING TO PREVENT HYPERVENTILATION**

This weekend marks the return of Alpacafest to the Ohio Expo Center (Bricker and Celeste buildings). Hosted by the Ohio Alpaca Breeder's Association, Alpacafest brings hundreds of alpacas from across the country to Columbus in one of the most spectacularly snuzz-tastic conventions you'll ever witness.

The festivities were split into two buildings, each filled to the brim with alpacas and their handlers. In the Bricker building, vast flocks (herds? gaggles? swarms?) of alpaca pens are set up surrounding two showing rings. Both types of alpacas are well represented by the breeders present. The stringy Suri (sir-ee), in colors ranging from dusty whites to deep brown-blacks, were content to lounge about and nom hay while waiting their turn in the show ring. On the south end of the building, the en-fuzzled Huacaya (wuh-kai-ya) plot the overthrow of their fleshy masters. Or, more likely, gently hum at each other and lay around like giant stuffed animals.

The alpaca themselves are, for the most part, extremely laid back and calm creatures. They do have the ability to spit, like their camelid cousins (llama, camels, etc.) but for the most part, rarely do. Good for us, I suppose. The fiber in their hair is similar to wool, but without the itchy-scratchiness that makes it annoying to wear. Lynn and I both picked up some 50% Alpaca / 50% polyester gloves (the poly makes it stretchable) as souveniers.

Really, since the Alpacafest is aimed at breeders and professional alpacaddicts, there's not much for the everyman to do aside from ogle the livestock (I said ogle, not fondle!) and buy stuff. But really, seeing the animals is partly the reason to visit a show like Alpacafest. The variety of colors, sizes, even hairstyles of the different alpaca are simply astounding. It really makes you think about buying a few acres, putting up some fence and raising some alpacas. Maybe some day.

Dude, you're getting a blanket, some gloves, maybe a sweater...

Pros:

1. Cheap - $5 for parking, admission is free!
2. Fun - Alpacas are cute, the people are friendly, and the products are amazing.
3. Close to home - Ohio Expo Center (state fairgrounds) near OSU campus.

Cons:

1. Slightly boring - The alpaca don't do tricks, sing songs, or entertain. They just do Alpaca.
2. Expensive souveniers - Some of the more elaborate products run into the hundreds of dollars. The gloves are a great deal though :)

Score: 8/10 - Adorable alpacas to look at, awesome fuzzy products to try and super cheap to get into. Check it out (maybe next year?)!