Fri
Feb 1 2008
01:34 pm
Mardi Growl Parade - a costume parade for dogs
By: bizgrrl
When: Wed. December 31, 1969 7:00 PM

The parade will begin in Market Square and end at the future site of the city's new downtown dog park on the southeastern corner of Summit Hill Drive and Central Avenue.

Registrants will receive a doggie goody bag and a royal court will be selected for the best dressed. Grooming and vaccination stations will be on site, as well as food vendors (including gourmet dog treats). Participants may purchase Mardi Growl Parade dog shirts or photos of their favorite pets in front of a Mardi Growl background.

Registration is $8. As required by law, all dogs must be leashed and owners are required to clean up any dog waste.

Topics:
Pam Strickland's picture

Some good pics accompanied

Submitted by Pam Strickland on Sun, 2008/02/03 - 3:33am.

Some good pics accompanied by a not-so-well written story at knoxnews.com.

(link...)

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

MallAboutTown.com's picture

Mardi Growl Parade Pictures

Submitted by MallAboutTown.com (not verified) on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 9:26pm.

We were unable to get many pictures, (too busy looking at all the neato dressed dogs!), but were able to take a few pictures at the Mardi Growl Parade in Knoxville Feb 2nd. Many are of our pampered pooch, Doodle, however there are several others. Please excuse the format, as we had to load them in as products in order to be able to upload to our site. Please feel free to copy any of the parade photos, but do not try to load into the cart...

(link...)

Once you load the webpage, scroll to the bottom of the department list and click on Mardi Growl This will take you to department and from there you can click on any of the pics that load or click view more products to view more picturs. Again, my apologies for the way we had to load these.

bizgrrl's picture

Awesome pictures! The pups

Submitted by bizgrrl on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 7:53pm.

Awesome pictures! The pups are so cute! Especially that yellow dog. I too look forward to next year, Bill. Keep up the good work.

Justin's picture

Cool event/pics...too bad I

Submitted by Justin on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 7:33pm.

Cool event/pics...too bad I missed it this year. Any plans for Mardi Growl 09?

Bill Lyons's picture

Mardi Growl 09 is already in the planning stages

Submitted by Bill Lyons on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 7:42pm.

Mardi Growl 09 is already in the planning stages. Lots of improvements to be made over the inaugural. We definitely need a bit more variety in the music. We really did not have all that much publicity so the turnout was pretty amazing for a first try on a cold morning. Of course the rapidly growing anti-dog-park/parade movement could prove to be a daunting challenge.

Carole Borges's picture

Yes, more music...more floats on top of wagons

Submitted by Carole Borges on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 10:35pm.

Fantastic pics. Thanks for posting them.

I agree that the lack of music was apparent. Music and Mardi Gras go hand-in-hand to me. Marching bands might spook the pups, but jazzy street musicians located at crosswalks could work.

I loved that doggie float on top of a wagon. Floats that size seem like a great additon. It would allow for some very creative design and help parents who bring toddlers.

I loved the Mardi Growl Parade. My dog had a blast and was surprisingly well behaved. Except for trying to gnaw on her costume and pooping in the middle of the street during the parade (I did clean it up completely), she was an angel.

Such fun! So very well organized. I bet people are already planning what they will do next year. I know I'll be there.

Stick Thrower's picture

Photos

Submitted by Stick Thrower on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 7:22pm.

Here are a few photos from Market Square before the parade.

Good crowd:






Bad to the bone:



I felt kind of bad for this girl (or boy in drag?):



A yellow dawg:









A lady bug:



I got the impression this guy had worn the outfit before:


Congrats, Bill and all who put the event together. It appeared to be a success!

bizgrrl's picture

Dog parade pics at

Submitted by bizgrrl on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 6:24pm.

Dog parade pics at Knoxblab.

The link starts at page 17. Go forward to see more pictures. The blab thread started long before today.

Boy, it looks like it was definitely a little cold this morning. And, it looks like a good time was had be everyone in the pictures.

Tess's picture

Knoxblab has pix.

Submitted by Tess on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 6:10pm.

Knoxblab has pix.

bizgrrl's picture

I'm really glad the parade

Submitted by bizgrrl on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 6:08pm.

I'm really glad the parade was successful. Wish we could of attended. A little early and cold for me and the pupster.

Where are the pictures?

Anonymous's picture

Dog Parade and Park

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 4:21pm.

Is that Dog Park really a good idea when the parks could be used by everyone. Do we really need dog parades. Sheesh.

Bill Lyons's picture

The weather should be nice too!

Submitted by Bill Lyons on Fri, 2008/02/01 - 2:06pm.

Thanks Bizgirl for the post. I will add that, by popular demand there will be a prize for "best nekkid dog" as well - along with special judges and a special prize. This came from those who do not want to impose a costume on their dogs, but who wanted to come anyway. To be eligible we do ask that even unclothed dogs register. It should be a lot of fun. And all proceeds are for an organization doing very important work - Young-Williams animal shelter. I think the dog park will be a great amemity to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

Also, speaking of special parks, the new skatepark in Tyson Park is incredible. It was great to see the young folks with their boards and BMX bikes yesterday afternoon. These folks were engaged in this from the beginning, including organizing and requesting a park, taking it to council, raising money, and helping with the design.

(link...)

Tracy S's picture

Great parade!

Submitted by Tracy S (not verified) on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 2:51pm.

I thought the turnout was incredible and we had a great time. We ended up leaving before the full court was announced, our pup had had enough. I was pleasantly surprised at how courteous and well behaved most of the owners were! I only saw one guy who didn't clean up after his BIG dog (too busy talking on his cell phone, I guess!) but did see evidence that several other owners didn't feel it necessary to clean up at the site of the new dog park. Maybe they thought the strewn hay made it unnecessary or something.

At any rate, we were happy to participate and I'm glad to say we think our dog also enjoyed the experience. I hope WBIR has some coverage of the royal court; I'd love to see the pictures. Thanks for publicizing the event for this great cause.

Bill Lyons's picture

It was a lot of fun.

Submitted by Bill Lyons on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 3:15pm.

We were overwhelmed by the turnout but made it through somehow. We think there were over 400 dogs. I lost count well over 300. People were great and the spontaneously made up "Best Nekkid Dog" trophy presentation was fun. Young Williams is going to get a lot of $. There were some great dogs and very interesting owners too. It was a very lighthearted event during the sometimes stress-producing political season. I think almost everyone there enjoyed it and folks were very interested in the new dog park, the site of which marked the end of the parade. One interesting note relative to the political season (local anyway) was that when I was announced as one of the judges someone was overheard remarking.. "Like he is really unbiased." For the record I am unrelated to any of the winning dogs or their owners and I have no business or employment connection with said dogs and owners.

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