Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival

I had tons of fun in this festival. There were local breweries, food trucks, music, art works and some free stuffs you can play with, such as face painting, drawing, etc. The Great Wall of Oakland heard people’s feedback last year, so this year there were many more food and drink options.
This year they have 3 celebrity cats «meet & greet» catibities that are very exciting. They are Lil Bub, Ava and Dusty Klepto. Both kids and adults had a lot of fun!

What is there to say? It’s an Internet Cat Video Festival in Oakland.
OK, maybe it does need explaining. The OICVF is a festival for cat lovers to meet other cat lovers/​cats, drink beer, buy cat-​related gear, and watch cat-​related videos at the end of the day. It’s fun for what it’s worth, but there’s no way you can spend seven hours here — the cats will be long asleep by then.

ME GUSTA MY GATOS
I seriously love my cats. They are so spoiled and loved. In the home my husband and I share, there are three supreme rulers: Autumn, Phyllis, and Regan. So when I heard about a Cat Festival featuring famous cats of the Internet, I was pretty excited. Deciding it best to leave our girls at home, we ventured to the Great Walll with 3 friends, hoping to make a day of the cativities.
We were slightly disappointed by the number of vendors present. I think we were hoping for more, as it became difficult to envision us there for more than a few hours. We wanted to stay until dark to watch the videos, but had arrived when it opened and ran out of things to do. We did enjoy some of the cativities like making cat puppets and watching face painting, but would have liked to see more options.
The in&out privileges were nice and the event was well-​organized. EventBrite ticket sales were great and when we couldn’t pull up on our tickets on our phone, the people at the gate were able to smoothly handle this problem and we didn’t hold up the line at all.
Shirts and other items were sold. Would have liked to see more food than we did, but tried something new and enjoyed it. Beer was sold at a booth from Luca’s Taproom, which is next door to the Great Wall. The line stayed pretty long though! Very noteworthy was the girls band that played. A group of young (high school-​ish) girls sang and played instruments — they were really awesome.
All in all it was very much worth the price ($ 10 in advance) and we had a great day and took some great photos. Even some in a photobooth with prop cats. The $ 5 fee went to support the kitties and was very fair!
I will definitely return next year if the festival returns.

I had such a great time at this festival! I was here for most of it and I never got bored. It was great to be amongst cat lovers. All the proceeds went to the East Bay SPCA, which is awesome! Luka’s Taproom was serving beer and water. There was also a food court with some good food. I also got my face painted as a cat! I really hope they do it again next year!

Oakland’s first edition of the International Cat Festival, based on the original held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, was a pussylicious good time!
Held at the Great Wall of Oakland, the afternoon-​long festival drew thousands, and featured a variety of vendors, community organizations (this benefits the East Bay SPCA), and even a food truck court. Attendees could also go in and out with wristbands and take a break the many restaurants and lounges nearby.
There were also cativities for kids and adults alike — coloring tables, make-​your-​own cat ears, and face coloring. Live bands played throughout the day, and there were other performers, like a dancer lip synching to «Memories» from «Cats» in full feline costume.
Definitely a great way to draw crowds to downtown Oakland on a quiet weekend day!