Cat-alyst for change
Video festival at Myriad Gardens to bring awareness to feline rescue
Video festival at Myriad Gardens to bring awareness to feline rescue.
There is a day set out each year in Oklahoma City, where thousands of cat ears can be seen on the Devon Lawn and Band Shell.
But these are not the ears of actual felines, most of these ears belong to cat lovers who have flocked to the Myriad Botanical Gardens for the Cat Video Festival.
The Cat Video Festival tours nationally, making stops in several different states every year. For what will be the festival’s fifth visit to Oklahoma, the festivities will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Myriad Botanical Garden’s Devon Lawn and Band Shell outdoor venue.
Pre-event activities will include catthemed face painting, cat ear headband crafting, Wine & Palette painting
activities, live music, food trucks and 25 different booths, offering natural cat foods, cat toys and cat adoption information.
But the main event of the evening is a 75-minute film that will begin at 9 p.m. Leslie Spears, Myriad Botanical Gardens marketing and public relations director, said the film is a compilation of homemade videos capturing cats in both artistic and laughable natures.
“We had a rock band last year that had a song about cats, so it’s a complete variety. There’s home videos of cats doing silly things, but then there’s very cleverly produced, very artistic videos,” Spears said. “There was one video that was so artfully done, it was very colorful and you saw silhouettes of cats and there would be rainbow patterns coming out.”
Spears said about 3,000 people have come from across the state in past years to celebrate their furry companions. Amid the laughter and admiration brought about by the festival, Spears said there is a hope that it will inspire cat rescue and adoption.
“Their main goal is for cat rescue,” Spears said. “They did do a touching story about a woman who took on a cat that nobody wanted and had been in the shelter for a long time. She talked about adopting it, and it was very touching.”
Making a difference
The Central Oklahoma Humane Society will be one of the four adoption centers with a booth at the festival, offering information about cat adoption, spaying and neutering, bottle feeding kittens and volunteering with the organization.
Melinda Prible, Central Oklahoma Humane Society director of marketing and communications, said the organization is appreciative of the awareness the Cat Video Festival brings to cat rescue.
“It is critical for our community to understand the issues we are facing regarding cat overpopulation and how everyone can get involved and make a difference,” Prible said.
Overcrowding of shelters is an issue many adoption centers in Oklahoma and across the nation are facing. The Central Oklahoma Humane Society has about 400 animals in its program at any given time, Prible said.
Older cats often take longer to find homes than younger kittens, but this is beginning to change with more people realizing the importance and need to give older cats a second chance in a loving home, Prible said.
The Central Oklahoma Humane Society will be providing festivalgoers images of the 80 cats available for adoption at its booth — offering individuals a chance to begin the adoption process, Prible said.
There are several benefits to having a cat around your home, Prible said. “Cats make great companions, are relatively low maintenance to care for, and are wonderful for teaching children kindness to animals — just to name a few,” Prible said. “And, of course, they make the best videos on the internet.”
Sears said the Cat Video Festival is unique in that is brings together so many people who are passionate about cat rescue and cats in general. The festival gives people a night to share their love and laughter among like-minded individuals, she said.
“I think there’s a really unique audience that loves cats, and we all come together for one night to celebrate and laugh — last year I laughed so hard, it was so funny,” Spears said. “I’m there with cat ears on, and I’m next to people with cat ears on and we’re all just one big group for one night. It’s a camaraderie of people who love cats.”