A Trip to the Iowa Youth Llama Festival
Home : Writing : by Trevis Rothwell, September 2005
It might seem random and arbitrary to be intrigued by llamas, especially if you've never encountered one in person. In my case, it was indeed random and arbitrary. I happened to play the Infocom computer game Bureacracy, which happened to feature a fictional llama, which happened to align my cognitive processes in a way such that I believed llamas to be fascinating creatures.
In September of 2005, my wife-to-be noticed an advertisement in the local newspaper for what was billed as the Iowa Youth Llama Festival, scheduled to take place in Eldora, Iowa. I was envisioning a sort of carnival atmosphere: rides, games, funnel cake stands, and llamas roaming around. The reality of the event was nothing like this, though it was much more interesting.
Evidently the newspaper was incorrect, and the event was actually called something to the effect of the Iowa All-State Youth Llama Show, and was organized by a local branch of the 4-H Club. There were only about a couple dozen people in attendance, I suppose primarily the youth participants and their families. We were very recognizable as outsiders, and I with my SLR camera around my neck was mistaken for a photographer for the press.
The Llama Show
We found the bulk of the action taking place in the largest of several barns at the Eldora fairgrounds site. When we arrived, the first segment of the event was already in progress: the showing of the llamas themselves, in which the youth, grouped by age category, demonstrated their ability to handle the llamas. More extensive handling ability was demanded of the older children (up through junior high age, or so), while the youngest were quizzed on basic llama facts.
When this segment of the event was completed, they called for a lunch break. We explored the other barn, where the llamas were being kept in between performances. After presumptiously taking pictures of the llamas up close without permission, we asked some of the owners, all of whom were agreeable to my photography. As the lunch break wore on, we noticed llamas being put into pieces of fabric. I thought perhaps this was for medicinal purposes, like a brace, or a sling, or some such. I was not at all expecting the actual explanation.
The Costume Competition
The pieces of fabric were actually the beginnings of elaborate costumes for the llamas, and the second segment of the event was a costume competition. It seems that llamas do not like wearing costumes, especially costumes that cover their heads, and most especially costumes that cover their heads and make noise. The more uncomfortable the llama is, the more skilled its handler must be to keep it under control. And thus the costume competition was a contest of both creatively dressing the llama and expertise in handling the llama.
We saw llamas being dressed up like science fiction villian Darth Vader, and like Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie, and like the donkey in Shrek, and like a common clown (although the expression on the clown-llama's face suggested that he was far too dignified for this, refusing to accept the fact that he was, in fact, dressed up as a clown).
As the costume competition begin in the main barn, we saw that not only were the llamas dressed up, but so were their handlers, wearing some costume complementary to whatever their llama was wearing. It was a most unusual, but enjoyable, experience for us newcomers to the fair.
The Obstacle Course
We met a man at the fair who had been involved with llamas for years, and he explained some of the origins of the third segment of the event, the llama obstacle course. He said that he and other llama owners would spend time contemplating their llamas, wondering if they could do this or that.
"For example," he told us, "we were just recently wondering if llamas could square-dance. We gave it a try, and it turns out they can! So we're going to be introducing a square-dance number at the adult llama show later this year."
In addition to disliking costumes, llamas also dislike water, and so naturally part of the obstacle course involved leading the llamas through a small pool of water. Further obstacles included jumping over a bar, jumping through a hoop, and walking through a tunnel with strands of sparkly threads hanging at the entrance and exit. (Llamas also dislike sparkly stuff.)
The obstacle course was similar in concept to dog agility competitions, though it had never occured to me that llamas might do such courses. Obviously, it occured to these folks, who proved out that it was possible.
We left the festival shortly before the ending, but not before being warned that if we left early we would miss the best part of the obstacle course, the teeter-totter! In retrospect I wish we had stayed, but even missing out on that, we saw a whole new world of llamas that we had no idea existed.
Photos on this page were taken at the 2006 festival, and some of the more detailed information that we learned that year has been interwoven into this story about the 2005 festival.
tjr@acm.org