Best-dressed pets to compete at the Taste of Annandale

A pet contest at the Super Pet Expo at the Dulles Expo Center. [Photos: Chico’s Natural Pet Expo]

Bring your dog or cat to the Taste of Annandale Saturday, Oct. 14, and you could win a prize in the best-dressed pet contest sponsored by Chico’s Natural Pet Market.

The contest takes place on the stage at 2:30 p.m. The Taste of Annandale is a community festival 10 a.m.-6 p.m. along Tom Davis Drive featuring food, music and dance, a 5K race, children’s entertainment, and more.

The prize for the first-place winner is a $100 gift certificate for grooming at Chico’s Pet Spa.

The first-place prize in the “most creative” category is a $70 gift certificate from Chico’s Pet Spa, and the second-place winner in that category will receive a gift basked from Chico’s Natural Pet Market worth $50.

For a pet who looks most like its owner, the first-place prize is a $70 gift certificate for Chico’s Pet Spa, and the second-place prize is a $50 gift basket. Everyone who enters the contest will get a gift bag while supplies last.

Pet owners don’t need to go to a lot of trouble to prepare for the contest, says Danielle Areco, the owner of Chico’s Natural Pet Market, which is based at Barcroft Plaza on Columbia Pike and is a sponsor of the Taste of Annandale.

Even people who don’t know about the contest in advance can still participate, she says. If you and your dog look alike, say if you both have long blond hair, or you’re both wearing a red bandana, you can enter on the spot. To spark your creativity, Chico’s table at the Taste of Annandale will have pet accessories.

Areco wants the contest to be easy and fun for people who didn’t know it was happening until they got to the festival.

The prizes will be flexible, too. If you have a cat or small dog who doesn’t need extensive grooming, don’t worry; the gift card can be used for something else at Chico’s, Areco says. It can also be transferred to someone else or donated to a pet rescue organization.

There are a few rules for the contest: Human participants must be 18 or over. You cannot enter more than one category, and pets must remain on a leash at all times. And you’ll need to fill out a registration form on site between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

A judge will select the finalists, and the crowd will crown the winners.