Thousands of Feline Fanciers to Gather at Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival

From the Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival staff:

More than 5,000 cat-lovers will gather at the first-ever Bay Area Internet cat video festival to celebrate felines through an array of daytime activities and to watch the Bay Area premiere of the Walker Art Center's highly acclaimed Internet Cat Video Festival.

The Great Wall of Oakland will host the Bay Area premiere of the Walker Art Center’s Internet Cat Video Festival benefiting the East Bay SPCA on Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 3 to 10 p.m. on West Grand between Telegraph and Broadway.

Dusty the Klepto Kitty will also make a rare special appearance. The domestic Snowshoe cat from San Mateo gained notoriety in early 2011 for his acts of "Cat Burglary."

As a result he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman attempting to "meow out" an explanation for the disappearance of the hundreds of household items — from sponges and dishtowers to underwear and a golf club.

Festival goers beware...he might just steal your stuff!

Tickets go on sale on Monday, March 25 and can be purchased online through the Festival’s Ticket Sponsor, Eventbrite at http://oaklandcatvidfest.eventbrite.com/.

Entry to the festival and screening is $10 for adults, $5 for youth under 16 years old. A limited number of VIP seats will be sold for $75.

This is an opportunity for thousands of families to gather in Uptown Oakland to enjoy music, food and the visual arts in a safe and fun environment.

There will be a large area with cats and kittens available for adoption from animal rescue groups, as well as information on fostering kittens for shelters and pet rescues.

In addition, there will be live bands playing cat-themed music, local food trucks, pet product vendors, local artisans selling arts and crafts, and opportunities to participate in a plethora of art and cat activities including art projects.

As the sun sets, festival attendees will gather on West Grand in front of the Great Wall to watch a cat-themed aerial duet by the Great Wall of Oakland's artist in residence group, Bandaloop before the Bay Area premiere of the Internet Cat Video Festival.

The Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival will be a great community event celebrating cats, art and technology while educating the public on the importance of cat adoption and kitten fostering.

The Top Cat sponsor for the Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival is Oakland-based Pet Food Express who will promote the Save A Kitten program.

Between 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. CatTown, Hopalong and the Feral Cat Foundation will be joining in with the East Bay SPCA to offer cats and kittens for adoption.

Additionally they will be signing up foster parents for kittens.

Other sponsors include Oakland-based FreshStep, Eventbrite, Whole Foods Market, Comcast, Bay Area Video Coalition, ECEE Productions, KTVU and Animal Planet.

A very special VIP curator-led preview screening of the Internet Cat Video Festival will be held at the Oakland Museum of California on May 10, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the James Moore Theatre.

Preceding the screening will be short talks from the Walker Art Center's program director Scott Stulen, OMCA's senior art curator Rene deGuzman and OMCA’s senior curator of natural sciences, Douglas Long Ph.D.

All seats are $25 and advance ticketing is recommended due to limited seating: http://omcacatvidscreening.eventbrite.com/.

For more information on how your organization can become involved in the Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival, please visit http://www.oaklandcatvidfest.com/ or email oaklandcatvidfest@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/491813867546480/

Twitter: #oakcatvidfest, @GreatWallOak