COACHELLA RULES: If you're headed into one of the world's most famous music festivals, the one in the desert over the second and third weekends in April, you know that one of the major rules is the one that says no pets are permitted. This is completely understandable, given the heat and the crowds and the sounds and the fact that chew toys are not exactly plentiful, nor are snacky treats. But there will be a -chella experience for lovers of pooches, at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, and it coincides with the opening of the festival in Indio on April 10. Nope, the hottest bands won't be strumming their guitars up on a mega stage, but "26 Chihuahua blends meeting, greeting, and catching some rays" is the order of the celebratory day. A day that's in fact called CHIchella, so you can guess who the star of this Fido-riffic festival is: wee Chis in all of their glorious forms.
THE CHIHUAHUAS... are adoptable and ready for their always-and-forever pad -- we're calling it a "pad" instead of "home" because that seems more in the hipster spirit of things -- and you can meet your new buddy at the "outdoor X-Pen Pavilion" (which boasts a name not unlike the pavilion names found at a lot of major festivals). There shall be PUParazzi, oh yes indeed, and the first 15 people to adopt a new friend will receive "framed photos of their CHIchella-styled pup." Pretty cute, and also nice: The ten-buck Amazon iTunes gift card also thrown in, and swag (also a staple of the coolest music happenings).
WHAT SORT OF PUPS... will you find? The Chihuahuas at the center run from "super-sporty athletes to couch-potato cuddle-bugs," so, like seeing a bevy of bands, the dogs you shall meet will all have their distinct brand (read: personality, likes, temperament). So you're not going to rock out in Indio. Why not snuggle up at home with a hound you met at CHIchella? It's a great "how we met" story to tell all of your hipster wannabe pals.
