In Minnesota there will be the second year Alpaca Expo. This Expo will be held on April 4 to April 5, 2009 that will showcase the Four Season Centre in Owatonna. The online registrations open last January 2009 because of the success the exhibitors and organizers had last year this was shown by the early sell-out they had.

Alpaca Expo is one of a kind event in Minnesota. Officially the Expo is a Level IV Halter & Level I Fleece Show. You can expect to experience being with hundreds of Alpacas, Huacaya, and Suris during the event. Another must-see is the Fiber Arts, Photo Contest, First-time Fleece entries and all Production Classes. Kids will also have a grand time playing Simon Says, to be hosted by Vicki Trimberger.

To advertise the use of the alpaca fibers there will be a Fiber Art Competition. This contest will be good for you if you are a fiber art enthusiast and are using 50% or more alpaca fiber.

For the Fiber Art Contest there are a lot of divisions that an artist can qualify. The first division is the Fiber Artist Beginner Junior is where you are younger then 18 years old and have worked less then one year as a Fiber Artist. The Fiber Artist Beginner Adult is for adults older then 18 but has worked more then one year as a Fiber Artist. The Artist Intermediate is for Fiber Artist that has worked for more that one year. Then there is the Fiber Artist Advanced where the Fiber Artist has worked for more than one year and has gained 90 points or more within a given class.

The Fiber Art Contest has also three categories. The first one is the All Handwork a 100% handspun yarns with 100% handmade construction, and/or 100% hand-felted. The second category is Part or Non-Handwork where the yarn is commercially spun and a 100% hand felted. The third category is the partial or Non-Handwork is when it is less then 100% hand-felted.