Wordless Wednesday: Brady Street Pet Parade, Part II

As promised in Monday's post, here are some more photos from the Brady Street Pet Parade.  Please feel free to go over to the original post to find out all about this annual event for a great cause. 

Since this is also for Wordless Wednesday, I'll shut up and let you peruse the many photos of cuteness.  Enjoy!

The Cutest Parade in Milwaukee: Brady Street Pet Parade

If you are a dog lover, this post is for you.  Yesterday, I attended the 11th annual Brady Street Pet Parade on the east side of Milwaukee, and although I had been to this adorably fun event a few times before, I had never seen so many participants before.  The Pet Parade raises money for the Wisconsin Humane Society, and features many vendors from the restaurants that line this popular boulevard to local animal-related shops. 

This year's sponsors included The Zoom Room, a canine training center, the doggy daycare center, Central Bark,

And Eco Pet, a local alternative to the big-box pet supply stores, featuring environmentally-conscience pet food, toys and accessories.

As you can see below, the day was packed full of events including agility demos at Zoom Room, a costume contest, pet/owner look-alike contest, a pet blessing, music and, of course, the parade itself.

This was a day for pet owners to show their creativity:

Make new friends:

And even get as dolled-up as their pets:

I took so many photos yesterday of most of the doggy costumes, but here are some of my favorites from the day.  This corgi was cute to begin with, but as soon as his owner put on his jester costume, he was a crowd-stopper.  A lot of people were trying to get a picture of this little guy.

I heard from this dog's owner that his costume is Rolf from The Muppet Show.

 

And then there's these two.  Presumably, brother and sister, I thought they were adorable.  The girl is obviously a cheerleader, but I thought (from far away) that the boy was a mini-Shakespeare.  That was before I saw the bling dollar-sign necklace, and figured out he's a pimp.

 



After the general milling around while the participants registered, the dogs who were in costume were lined up and paraded in front of a panel of three judges for the contests. 

Once in front of the judges, they were assessed by their costume, their likeness to their owner, and their tail-wagging ability.  This guy was fun as he tried to get his matching dog to wag its little stub of a tail.

And here are the winners!  The first dog (pictured at the top as well) won the costume contest, the duck dog came in 2nd, and the pug pictured 3rd (with his owner's baby) won the owner/dog likeness prize.  The tail-wagging winner (one of the many dachsunds) was MIA.

After the prizes were handed out, the parade began.  The parade went down most of Brady Street to St. Rita's for a pet blessing.

 

This band, Tropical Tomorrows, led the parade, which I think was a first this year.

 



Despite the cold weather, it was, once again, a very fun way to spend the day.  I got to see a lot of ingenious dog costumes and spend some time on my favorite street in Milwaukee.  Come back Wednesday when I will have more costumed dog photos to share from the day.

This post is also featured in I (heart) art Bloghop Tuesday.  To see more posts, just click here.

Huzzah! My Very First Trip To The Bristol Renaissance Faire

Yesterday, I once again braved another hot Wisconsin day to attend the Bristol Renaissance Faire for the very first time.  The Faire is located outside Kenosha, Wisconsin, 30 miles south of Milwaukee, and it is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. 

As a Theatre major in college, I kind of knew what to expect.  But, there were some surprises as well, which made it a fun experience.  If you yourself have never attended a renaissance fair, here is a list what you would expect to find there.

1) Actors in costume everywhere.  That's what makes the faire so much more unique than your typical festival.  All of the actors I encountered were really friendly.  They will interact with you, try to make you laugh, show you their skills, and they don't shy away from photo-ops, just like these folks:

Some of the actors even walk around on stilts:

2) Beautiful costumes, like those found in period movies.  And there is a wide array of types of costumes worn by the actors.  Most of the fair-goers dress up too, which adds a whole other aspect to people watching:

If you show up to the fair and feel out of place with your t-shirt and jeans, you can even rent a costume for the day:

 3) Fun statues:

 

 4) Music, of course:

5) Many stages of entertainment, from skits to comedy to swordsmen:

6) Knights on horseback:

And in the jousting ring.  This was the main event for me yesterday, since I had only seen jousting a little bit on TV.  They first had a skills joust:

Then the knight-to-knight joust:

7) Food - all kinds of it.  While the most popular item was the Turkey Leg, there was also shrimp or vegetable tempura, sandwiches, crepes, fried fish, onion strings, and it wouldn't be a Wisconsin festival without these:

8) Acrobats and Animals (there was also a petting zoo and camel rides):

Well, there is a rundown of what you can expect to find at one of the many renaissance faires around the country.  Google Renaissance Fairs to find the one nearest you.  The Bristol Renaissance Faire has one more weekend of activity over Labor Day weekend.  To find out more, visit: http://www.renfair.com/bristol/.