The Retreat at Mountain Brook is especially proud of our pet-friendly policy and our Pet Park allowing our residents to enjoy the benefits of their community. And since May is National Pet Month we are excited to highlight one of the most unique pet festivals anywhere—Do Dah Day coming up May 18 in Birmingham’s Historic Rhodes Park, a 12 minute drive from The Retreat. Bring your pet and plan to enjoy a marvelous day!
Do Dah Day focuses on pets of all shapes and sizes and culminates in a parade for walkers on foot, cars, floats, marching bands, and of course pets of all kinds. Each year Do Dah Day Royalty is crowned and anyone with a pet can enter! A Do Dah Day King and Queen (of the furry kind) are selected and featured on the Do Dah Day website.
The Do Dah Day Parade appreciates entrants of all kinds and according to their website, this can include marching bands, briefcase drill teams, synchronized dancers, mimes, clowns, decorated cars and creative floats! Or, anyone that wants to walk in the parade with their animal, with a dictate to be festive.
Registration begins at 9:01 a.m. the day of the Parade. Click here for more information on how to register.
Regardless of whether you are participating or watching the parade, be sure to bring the whole family because there are cool activities for kids including face painting, hair weaving, craft making with the McWane Science Center folks, basketball, live music, and even bungee jumping!
And if you enjoy live music, you will find a robust line up of bands in both Caldwell and Rhodes Park throughout the day until the event ends at 6:01 p.m. The Birmingham Pipers will kick off the event in both parks to start Do Dah Day.
There is also a wide variety of food and beverage for purchase. A sampling of those includes: Sweet Parad-ICE, Allen’s SNOBIZ, Nanny’s Old Fashioned Lemonade, Domino’s Pizza, City Bowls, Ray Ray’s BBQ, Cantina on Wheels, Joe’s World Famous Wood Fired Pizza, and The Cuban Café to name a few.
The festival began in 1979 when a small group of friends got together and decided to have a party — and Do Dah Day was born. As the 100% volunteer-run event has evolved, it has become a fundraiser with the focus on supporting local animal charities, raising more than $1.5 million since 1992 for Jefferson County animal shelters.
So grab your pet, borrow a pet, or there is still time to adopt a pet, and plan to come enjoy one of Birmingham’s best springtime events, Do Dah Day, celebrating more than 40 years. We look forward to seeing you there!
