Spotted in Georgia: Alpacas in Athens

The Georgia Alpaca Association, which promotes awareness of alpacas and their fiber, recently held the Royal Alpaca Challenge Walking Fleece Extravaganza at the University of Georgia Livestock Arena. The two-day event featured an alpaca fleece competition where judges evaluated the coats of roughly 90 animals and awarded ribbons for quality, a kid’s fun zone, seminars in fiber arts such as spinning and an alpaca selfie booth. Vendors were also on hand to sell everything from alpaca mittens, socks and hats to handmade wooden fiber tools to unspun alpaca fiber. This is the ninth year of the competition, but its first at UGA.

Photos by Daemon Baizan and Mary Ann DeMuth.