Alpacapalooza a breed apart at fairgrounds

• What: Alpacapalooza, with breeders, animals and vendors participating in two days of shows, competitions and sales of alpaca products.

• When: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.

• Cost: Admission is free. Parking is $7.

• Information: Visit the Alpaca Association of Western Washington at alpacapalooza.com or call 503-318-0964.

RIDGEFIELD — A few dozen alpacas shuffled into the spacious barn at The Alpaca Group, eyes glowing with curiosity at the sound of visitors’ footsteps.

The animals paused a few arm’s lengths away from petting distance and stared as 4-year-old Nallaret Ramirez harnessed a baby from a nearby pen and took it for a short training walk.

“I know how to catch alpacas,” Nallaret said confidently, pulling the reluctant baby while gazing at the onlooking pack. “You run really fast — and catch them running really fast.”

Her father, Javier Ramirez, does a lot of the ranching on the Ridgefield farm, which is one of the largest in Southwest Washington, with about 200 alpacas. Ramirez started out in Mexico working with horses, cows and goats, but moved to Clark County about 10 years ago to work with alpacas at the farm, which is owned by the Halberg family.

“Alpacas, they’re cuter than goats,” Ramirez said with an easy smile. “I like petting them. They’re very soft.”

The South American creatures are prized mainly for their hair, which is softer and warmer than sheep’s wool and doesn’t contain lanolin, the root cause of many wool allergies. As a herd animal, alpacas also tend to have calm temperaments and are generally more personable than their larger cousins, llamas.

The Alpaca Group breeds alpacas, sells wool, yarn and other products and also trains the animals for shows, like this weekend’s Alpacapalooza, in its 17th year.

Alpacapalooza will fill the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds with more than 300 of the strange-looking, long-necked creatures, which come from all over the region to participate in a variety of events and contests.

Also on hand will be dozens of vendors with familiar products including socks, hats, coats, sweaters, gloves and stranger items, such as lamp shades, wine-bottle covers and clothes-dryer balls.

And the public is welcome to attend, check out the vendors and meet the animals for free.

There are about 14,000 alpacas registered in Washington and 18,000 in Oregon, said Gvido Bars, president of the Alpaca Association of Western Washington, which runs Alpacapalooza. That includes at least a dozen farms in Clark County — although the association doesn’t collect statistics down to the county level.

The alpaca market took a bit of a hit in the wake of the Great Recession, but things have recently started to pick back up, Bars said.

“It’s been kind of struggling, and sales have been down across the U.S.,” Bars said. “But things are coming back now. Our show should be as big as last year or possibly bigger.”

The organizers judge the size of the show by animals in events, rather than public attendance. Last year there were 340 event entries. This year there looks to be more, he said.

“The purpose of the show is to display and judge the alpacas,” Bars said. “But we also love to have families and members of the public visit and interact with them. Everyone is very friendly. We encourage people to come touch them and feel their wool.”

The Alpaca Group has participated in Alpacapalooza for the past several years.

Bill Halberg founded the ranch in 1995. And since then the business has grown and thrived, even in the poor economy, said Jennifer Halberg, his daughter and the farm’s manager.

“There’s actually a ton of alpaca farms across the United States,” Jennifer Halberg said. “It’s picking up. Everyone’s going to own an alpaca someday.”

Alpacas are easy to take care of and many ranchers note the calming influence that the animals have on people around them.

“They’re relaxing,” Halberg said. “People love the lifestyle of alpacas. They’re like a pet, almost, a really easygoing one.”

And like pets, all of the 200 or so animals on the ranch have their own names.

“Everybody has a name and a number,” Ramirez said. “You can tell them apart. The face, they’re like people. You can see 1,000 people and tell the difference. If you’re around alpacas, you can see their faces are all different, too.”

Jennifer and her brother, Mark, who does most of the breeding at the ranch, come up with names for new members of the herd.

“We try to have names for babies that somehow match their mothers,” Jennifer Halberg said. “Like we have Coca-Cola, and her baby is Pepsi-Cola.”

Other names include Bellagio, Honey and Razzmatazz.

“We had one born on the Fourth of July, and we named her Miss America,” Halberg said. “Her baby, a boy, was also born on the Fourth of July, so his name’s Uncle Sam.”

She said she hopes the public will come visit with them at this weekend’s show.

“It’s a great show,” Halberg said. “A lot of people come by and bring their kids. Everybody just loves these animals.”