For a change of pace during Fantasy Fest, the Pet Parade is kid-friendly, and pets are the center of attention. Pet owners dress up with their pets and parade around onstage to compete and donate money to pet charities. The best part of the show is the sidelines, where pets and owners mill around and wait their turn. The stage antics are silly and embarrassing to watch and you can't see anyway, so the real show is down in the crowd.
People dress their dogs up in the most ridiculously silly costumes, you have to laugh. There's probably a hot dog dog costume every year. Still funny! We love it!
The show starts out with the kid-pet combinations, then moves on to the adult-pet contestants. This year there was an adorable gray weimaramer as part of a tea party ensemble. Then there was a girl who shaved her dog in zebra patterns and dressed up as a lion, to represent animals of Africa! Totally spectacular!
The Fantasy Fest Pet Masquerade and Parade takes place at the Westin Resort on Front Street, behind the hotel facing the water. They put up a stage
and try to keep people moving so nobody gets to stand in front and watch. Some people get there early and get tables at the restaurant in front of the stage. They can't see anything either because of all the people walking in front of them. Like I said, the best show is the sidelines where contestants are waiting for their turn on stage. You can actually talk to them while they wait, ask them about their costumes, congratulate them, pet the dogs. There was a chicken lady with a rooster in her arms, and there was a guy who entered some lobsters. For the most part, it's dogs.
