This weekend was the much anticipated Ottawa Corgis Halloween Parade and it was every bit as adorable as it sounds. The Facebook event was shared with me weeks ago and from that moment on I knew I was going to attend. In the time leading up to the event, I also noticed that more and more people were checking out the Facebook event page so I knew that this was definitely going to draw a large crowd. It’s a parade or corgis in costume – I’m surprised the whole city didn’t plan to take the day off to attend.
As a parade, there really wasn’t much going on. The parade took place through the streets of Lansdowne Park and there were more humans that dogs present since, as I predicted, the event drew a large crowd. The parade itself didn’t actually last all that long. It was supposed to run from 2pm to 4pm, but it really only lasted one hour instead of two. Still, it was an adorable event.
Corgis, corgi mixes, and other assorted dogs appeared both in and out of costume. Some of the dogs who showed up in costume even managed to shake their outfits loose by the end of the parade. The costumes were adorable, and the dogs themselves were even cuter than that. There were dogs of all ages present, including some unbelievably cute puppies, and all of them were eager to receive cuddles and treats. Some even became quite vocal when the possibility of a treat arose.
The only disruptions were the occasional corgi brawl as well as a few cars that passed through the parade area. At one point it was a little ridiculous that the group photo of all the dogs and owners was being taken in an area where cars could still go through. People and dogs were all over the area and yet traffic had not been re-routed so it was definitely a little disruptive to have to constantly move out of the way due to an approaching car. The funniest disruption of the day was when a plump corgi dressed like sushi managed to break away from their owner and ran all over the photo area as everyone nearby tried to chase the rogue dog.
As a parade, the event was simple and a little underwhelming. As a dog Halloween party, quite the opposite. I was covered in fur and slobber by the end but I got to pet so many cute costumed dogs. It definitely made my day. If this event takes place in the future I’ll absolutely go again just to pet the dogs and fawn over their cute costumes.
