By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

Shelby County will have representatives at this weekend’s Do Dah Day event in Birmingham’s Highland neighborhood.

Natural pet food store Hollywood Feed, located on U.S. 280 in Greystone, is one of the vendors set for the May 18-19 event, a music festival and parade that serves as a fundraiser for organizations that support homeless animals.

Hollywood Feed Manager Tracy Dairo said the business participates because Do Dah Day is “the biggest dog event of the year in the Birmingham metro area.”

“It’s a lot of owner-pet participation,” Dairo said. “We like to go down to promote the store so people in the Birmingham area will know about Hollywood Feed.”

Dairo and her staff participated in Do Dah Day last year, giving out samples and goody bags to 500-600 people, she said.

“I’m sure we’ll end up seeing more this year,” she said.

Dairo said Do Dah Day is a priority for the store because the event has been going on for such a long time. This is the event’s 33rd year.

“Everybody knows about it,” she said.

Hollywood Feed will have a booth at Rhodes Park and will give out information about the store and about different foods available for pets.

“We don’t like to just give things away. We like to help people with their pet nutrition needs, like if (the pets) have allergies or food restrictions,” Dairo said. “We like to customize what we give to people. It’s about talking to people.”

Dairo said people from across Shelby County will be at Do Dah Day.

“It’s for people from all over,” she said.

Hollywood Feed has locations in Mountain Brook and in Greystone, and Dairo said plans are in place for two or three more locations in the Birmingham metro area in the next few years.

The Do Dah Day parade will begin at 11:01 a.m. on Highland Avenue. Bands begin playing at noon. The festival will take place in Caldwell Park, Rhodes Park and along Highland Avenue.

Do Dah Eve, the festival kick-off, is May 18 at Nana Funks in Birmingham’s Lake View district.

For more information, visit Dodahday.org.