Cruising to win: $1 billion Powerball winner Pug “Beast” placed third in the 26th annual Great PUPkin Costume Contest at Fort Greene Park.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Canines and their two-legged friends had a howling good time at the 26th annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest in Fort Greene Park on Oct. 26.
Brooklyn’s largest and most creative puppy costume contest drew over 1,000 attendees who cheered on pups strutting elaborate outfits. The themes ranged from movies, opera, and fairy tales to the newly crowned WNBA champions, the New York Liberty, and iconic Brooklyn landmarks.
PUPkin event manager Alana Davis told Brooklyn Paper that the contest serves a fundraiser for the Fort Greene Park Users and Pets Society (PUPS), a nonprofit supporting the community’s 1,500-plus dog owners. The event is free, but attendees are encouraged to donate, and there is a $20 entry fee for participants.
“We provide poop bags, water bowls — we’re part of the lawn rotation program in Fort Greene Park. We make the park safe for dog owners and non-dog owners [and] provide puppy training,” Davis said, calling the contest “a nice fall day in Brooklyn.”
“Everyone’s here to smile and to root for the underdog, literally,” she added. “It’s a great feeling of community.”
The Scoobie Doobie Brothers warmed up the crowd, which began gathering around 9:30 a.m. for the contest’s noon kickoff. This year’s judges included Council Member Crystal Hudson, Julie Raskin, vice chair of Fort Greene Park, and Brooke LaMantia, a writer for The Cut.
A pug named Beast, dressed as a $1 billion Powerball winner (complete with a Ferrari prop), placed third. Pooch Otter took second, channeling Liberace in a costume adorned with lace, sequins and pearls, seated by a toy piano. The grand prize went to Gemma, an audience favorite dressed as a Babybel cheese, who wowed the crowd with tricks.
Newly crowned WNBA champion and Liberty MVP Jonquel Jones was among the spectators, cheering on the creatively costumed pups. Jones told Brooklyn Paper she didn’t know about the event until she stumbled upon it with her fiancée, Nisha Lagania, and her mother, Ettamae Jones, while walking their dogs, Rylo and Kiba, in Fort Greene Park.
“I think people are always looking for things to do with their dogs, to spend quality time with their family and their pups, and so to have something like this for the people of Brooklyn and the city, it’s amazing,” Jones said.
Council Member Hudson, a judge for the fourth year, evaluated costumes on creativity, ingenuity, originality and individuality.
“It’s always such an amazing time,” Hudson told Brooklyn Paper. “And Brooklynites really come out and come through with the best costumes for their dogs.”
Newlyweds Lexie Ludlam-Ketel and Alex Ketel, along with their terrier-mix Sushi, dressed as characters from “Beetlejuice” — Miss Argentina and Beetlejuice, with Sushi in the role of a sandworm.
The couple adopted Sushi from Animal Heaven in August. A “tripod” who lost a leg due to injury, Sushi now lives her best dog life, running and playing fetch, her owners said.
Lexie Ludlam-Ketel called the event a “wonderful” way to spend a Saturday.
“It’s fun that we can be silly and dress up with our dogs and go to something like this,” said Ludlam-Ketel, a former dog foster.
Her husband, who had never owned a dog, found it fascinating to join a community he hadn’t known existed.
“Before, I was like, ‘Oh, people just have dogs,’” Ketel said. “But now, actually seeing the same people every day, just walking their dogs and getting to know them. It’s such a great way to make friends in the community.”
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