As we have swiftly jumped from October straight into November, I haven’t had the chance to blog about my Halloween activities. Since coming to Korea this is the first year that I decided to join in any festivities. This being said, I really wanted to do something fun and unique so I decided to attend a Halloween party… for pets!
폴랑폴랑 (Polang Polang) hosted the 2013 Animal Halloween Festival in 압구정 (Apgujeong) at Jazzy M.A.S. When we arrived, we were greeted on a red carpet by some friendly girls who took our ₩10,000 admission fee which would go to the “Yellow Ribbon Project” to help fund various animal shelters. Money well spent I’d say. In return for our donations, we were each given a canvas tote filled with LOTS of yummy treats for our doggie.
The venue itself was small, but festive and actually pretty well organized. Chairs and tables were lined along the walls, leaving plenty of space for the pets to roam and mingle. There were a few vendors selling dog clothes and accessories for only ₩5,000! I couldn’t help but buy an adorable handmade shirt collar for my little 우유 (Uyu). One vendor was even giving away some dog hoodies to promote her new store. All types of pets were welcomed, but there were mostly dogs and one rather large cat. It was definitely an event catered towards dogs, but that doesn’t mean the humans were left out in the cold. There was also a table full of fruit cups, cookies and muffins for the people to enjoy.
I wouldn’t say that the event was intended to be foreign friendly, as everyone who attended was Korean and a small presentation was given in Korean, but a surprising number of people could speak English very well and the even coordinators were very attentive. I was really impressed with how smoothly they kept everything running, considering the chaos of having all those different types of dogs in one room.
Towards the middle of the event they held a little costume contest where we got to introduce our pets and walk them down the “catwalk” to be judged. My puppy and I dressed up like Boo and Sulley from Monster’s Inc. and won first prize! It was very exciting, as I had never done entered my dog in a contest before. I was one proud momma!
Finally at the end, there was a small raffle to give all the attendees a chance to win a prize. No one went home empty handed and all the pets seemed to be as happy as their owners. By the end of the event, we went home with 3 canvas goodie bags, a surprise pet box and two big bags of dog food. I’d say it was quite the haul for 우유 (Uyu’s) first Halloween. My only complaint is that the lighting wasn’t too great and I didn’t have the right equipment or enough time to capture more professional photos. Nonetheless, it was such a great experience and I can’t wait to see what next year holds.
