When cat-ladies and gents are called to assemble, they do. 10,000 people came out for the first Internet Cat Video Festival at The Walker Art Center last night. As part of their open field programming, people watched cat videos together laughing along at the hilarious kitties.  Seriously, what could be better than people watching internet videos communally in a shared experience?

The cat-lady-in-residence at The Walker couldn’t resist the idea of getting together her people to enjoy something together that is normally watched behind a computer screen when you need a break from that project at work that never ends.

Lots of other people liked that idea as well. Not only did this #CatVidFest get local attention from The City Pages, it got national attention from the Huffington Post and BBC news. My cat Nuggs loved going and getting attention from all the cat lovers in the audience.

It can be best described by me in one word: fun.  A group of women sitting by me were there to celebrate a birthday and had brought some snacks and boxed wine (don’t tell). There were children as well as older adults sitting by each other all  laughing at the funny things that cats do. It was a great event to go to on a Thursday night.

I hope that The Walker decides to do this again and does an entry for local cat videos. They also might want to think about more parking because of how popular this event was.

People are starting to discover the great programming that The Walker Art Center offers, for FREE. I can remember coming to the Walker Sculpture Garden as a child on field trips and being able to run around by Spoonbridge and Cherry. Not only is the Sculpture Garden free every day, The Walker offers free Thursday nights in the gallery and special events like Open Field and Free First Saturdays.

Open field is from June to September and offers a place for people to gather and exchange skills and interests in an informal setting. The Walker even has a tool shed with games and art supplies for people to borrow and create magic together.

Free First Saturdays have different themes and coming up tomorrow, September 1st, they will be hosting, “Get Up and Read.” If you read Nancy Carlson as a child, you have to bring your family to The Walker. There will be book readings from Nancy, activities from her books in the Sculpture Garden, a chance to make your own book, and an opportunity to put together your own healthy snack.

They also have a fabulous restaurant named Gather that is open on Thursday nights.  I go there often because it is an affordable luxury. They have guest chefs from around Minnesota come and create small plates.  The first Thursday of each month they offer a couple free dishes from the guest chef. Plus, the happy hour is to die for. It goes from 5-7PM and all small plates are 5 dollars and they have a seasonal cocktail for 5 dollars as well. I love the grilled cheeses and the bahn mi.  Keep a look out for the guest chefs in the coming months, I believe they are one is the most famous chefs to come out of Minnesota and has a restaurant near The Walker. I would make your reservations now.

I also have to throw in a shout-out to all the animal shelters in Minnesota. I adopted Nuggs at The Animal Humane Society and it was a great experience. They helped me pick out the perfect cat for me. I wanted an older cat who liked sleeping and cuddling. If you are thinking of getting a cat consider adopting an older one.

because being a cat lady is cool

@mplsgossipgirl

You can find more pictures of the event on my instagram account: mplsgossipgirl

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