Monday, May 13, 2013

Internet Cat Video Festival Descends On Oakland


(@scottandthesea)

Last summer, Walker Art Center hosted the first ever internet cat video film festival in Minneapolis. The event, where cat lovers converged on the museum's lawn to watch popular videos on a huge screen, attracted 10,000 fans, along with a ton of media buzz. After the festival's success, its creators were inspired to pack up the cats and take the show on the road. This weekend, it arrived in Oakland, California for an "art & cat extravaganza" to benefit the East Bay SPCA.


NPR reports that an estimated 6,000 people showed up to Oakland Cat Vid Fest on Saturday, for an event that was part street fair, part feline film festival. 


Attendees were greeted to aerial performances:



People wore their finest feline fashions:



And did cat yoga:




You could get your face painted:




Or adopt a kitten from the Island Cat Resources and Adoption booth:




Vendors sold cat art and other kitty related merchandise:


While feline film critics showed up on leashes:




...and in strollers:




There was also a celebrity appearance by Dusty the Klepto cat (made famous by Must Love Cats and The Tonight Show):




Although reactions to seeing him were mixed:



Of course, the main attraction was 70 minutes of curated cat videos, displayed on the side of a building:



Even if some event-goers had to improvise: 




But in the end, everyone had a great time:



It was a dream come true for all cat lovers:



And the mayor even declared it a very special day!



In case you missed it, the original Cat Vid Fest is heading back to Minnesota this summer, with an all new curated collection of videos, and a larger venue. Tickets are on sale now for the event, which will take place on Wed., Aug. 28 at the Minnesota State Fair.




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3 comments:

Kendy P said...

We bought tickets, headed to SF first then back to Oakland. The traffic was so bad that we missed the festival & I got all mopey...:(

Anonymous said...

We had a cat film festival in Somerville, MA, too - back in February! Jacoby was a celebrity guest cat.

Kristina said...

How cool. As some of my friends say, cats are taking over the world. Wonder if that would be such a bad thing. ;)

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