Highlights from Toronto's First Cat Festival: meowfest 2019!
Photo: Peatures
On July 6th, 2019, cat lovers gathered from far and wide at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works for the second annual meowfest.
This year, all proceeds from the event were donated to Toronto Cat Rescue, a no-kill, volunteer-operated nonprofit.
Photo: Peatures
As early as 9 am, visitors braved the heat to begin lining up outside the venue, an old brickworking factory-turned-breathtaking community space. Early Access ticketholders were the first guests to enter, snagging a complimentary swag bag of goodies upon arrival.
Photo: Peatures
After stopping at the Drinking Fountain for a refreshing meowmosa, Steamwhistle beer, hard iced tea or glass of vino, attendees strolled into the Marketplace, where they could shop everything from cat trees, cat food and cat wine to ceramics, art prints and jewelry handmade with naturally-fallen whiskers.
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
Others beelined straight to the indoor stage, where Andrew Marttila, the photographer behind Shop Cats of New York and Cats on Catnip, was presenting a pet photography workshop at 10:30.
Guests also had the chance to meet a star-studded line-up of other cat icons, including Nala, Pudge, Venus the Two-Face Cat (who was celebrating her tenth birthday), the Dark Lord, Klaus and Juno, and iAmMoshow the Cat Rapper.
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
Hannah Shaw, known widely for her feline advocacy project Kitten Lady, hosted workshops on Trap-Neuter-Return and caring for orphaned kittens, leaving guests feeling inspired and empowered to start their own journey in animal rescue.
Photo: Peatures
Klaus and Juno’s human, Mick, gave a talk about life with special needs pets. He wrapped up the workshop by answering audience questions, addressing the unique rewards, challenges and misconceptions attached to adopting an animal with disabilities.
Those who didn’t get a chance to purchase special event tickets enjoyed free meet-and-greets with Stern alum Mister Puffles and local celebrity Merlin the Mad Ragdoll (who didn’t let the stream of visitors stop him from indulging in a lengthy nap).
Photo: Peatures
Of course, a festival isn't a festival without some memorable photo ops. Forget your typical photo booth: attendees instead posed with a giant shovel and poop pillows in Cosmic Pet’s g(Litter) Box.
On the outdoor stage, local singer-songwriter Bridgette Anderson and cat rapper iAmMoshow treated the crowd to live performances. Through a rapid-fire round of the Shoe Game between Venus’s human, Christina, and Nala’s human, Pookie, we learned whose cat would win in a fist fight, whose cat is more of a glutton, and who is more likely to show up late to a cat event.
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
In a juicy session of “Never Have I Ever” with a panel of headliners later that afternoon, we found out who has gotten a little too intoxicated at a cat event, who has liked their cat more than their spouse, and who has hooked up with someone else within the cat community. (For the sake of everyone involved, we won’t divulge any further details in writing here).
Photo: Peatures
In the outdoor area, attendees could also find free face painting by Picasso Painters, temporary tattoos, plus a selection of mouthwatering eats from Animal Liberation Kitchen, Sausage Party, Booyah, Los Vietnamita Taqueria, and Omusubi Bar Suzume.
Photo: Peatures
Photo: Peatures
Throughout the food, drinks, live entertainment and celebrity "paw"-tographs, the true heart of meowfest remained: helping shelter cats. We were happily surprised to see all on-site cats and kittens from Toronto Cat Rescue head to their forever homes by noon.
Photo: Peatures
Thanks to the thousands of cat lovers who supported meowfest, we managed to raise $16,300 in donations for Toronto Cat Rescue. These funds will help vulnerable kitties receive the quality care they need, and ultimately find their forever families.
And that’s how an event that started as a slightly far-fetched idea in our small Vancouver office unraveled into a coast-to-coast celebration of kitties. We can’t wait for next year’s event, with more cat-centric activities—and parking spots.