WELCOME

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival's 10th anniversary! We're grateful to judges Peter Kennedy and Kristen Buhrmann for keeping the show moving along and sending many breeders home with ribbons and trophies. And so many great comments about Julie Wassom's seminars on marketing and Robert Gane's popular sessions on business planning. So much good information offered by all the seminar speakers.

Please mark your calendar for April 27 & 28, 2013 and plan to join us for the 11th Annual Great Midwest Alpaca Festival.

It was more than 10 years ago that a small group of Wisconsin alpaca breeders got together to talk about establishing a major alpaca show in the upper Midwest. Shortly thereafter, a venue was chosen and a contract signed with the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. With the 2012 show, we celebrate our 10th anniversary and we hope you'll join us.

There have been many changes in this year's show to recognize the occasion. The main floor of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where all the activity is centered, has been reconfigured to make room for more ringside stalling and additional stalls for more sponsors. Sponsorship levels have been renamed and new incentives added, and, in addition to a new photo contest, we’re also offering exciting new seminars and a reinvigorated fiber area that will offer new classes and demonstrations. Highlighting the weekend will be a half-day session Friday afternoon on marketing alpacas in a challenging economy with Julie Wassom, one of the industry’s best known marketing experts. Stay tuned for more surprises!

LATEST SHOW UPDATES:

ALICE IN DAIRYLAND FEATURED GUEST
Wisconsin's own agricultural ambassador, Alice in Dairyland, Katie Wirkus,
will be a guest at the show from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. Alice in
Dairyland plays an important role in educating urban and rural residents
alike about the state's vital agricultural heritage and its impact on the
state's future.

During her year, Alice in Dairyland will travel nearly 40,000 miles throughout
the state and surrounding areas to promote Wisconsin's agricultural industry
and its impact on the economy. She is the state's 64th Alice and a 2010
graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where she received
a bachelor's degree in agricultural education and mathematics.  

SEMINARS
Are you selling all the alpacas you want to sell? Do you have farm visitors interested in getting
into the business of breeding alpacas? If not, why not? How do you successfully market your farm,
sell alpacas and breedings, and provide exceptional customer care when the economy is stressed,
your overhead is increasing, and the consumer confidence is shaky at best? Register today for this
game-changing seminar. You don't want to miss Julie Wassom, one of the industry's leading marketing experts, as she presents a half-day seminar Friday, April 27, on “How to Be Bullish on Marketing
Alpacas in a Challenging Economy.”

This could be the most important educational seminar you attend this year. It's open to the public and to
anyone raising and selling livestock and their byproducts. Cost is $75 per person or $125 for couples
or two from the same farm. A few seats remain and we'll be taking reservations until noon on Friday,
April 27, for this seminar.

There will be free seminars, open to the public, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Tips on business planning, animal husbandry, marketing and fiber preparation will be featured.


BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
A reception and buffet officially kicks off the birthday celebration Friday from 5-7 p.m. EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
 

SILENT AUCTION
Check here to see the terrific donations we've received for the silent auction. Proceeds from the silent auction go to the GMAF scholarship fund at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and the Alpaca
Research Foundation.

VENDORS
We have more vendors than ever this year. Visit here to see who will be selling your favorite alpaca yarn, teddy bears, sock, t-shirts, spinning wheels, hats, etc. etc. Many items to choose from. We also are very grateful to the vendors who generously donate items to the silent auction.
 

EQUIPMENT SPONSOR
Thank you to Bobcat of Madison for donating the use of a Bobcat skid steer for the weekend of
the show. Bobcat of Madison is one of Wisconsin's largest dealers specializing in the service and sale
of new, used and rental Bobcat equipment. They have the largest Bobcat rental fleet in the area. 

The Bobcat equipment will be on display in the outer ring of the Coliseum.