Internet Cat Video Festival makes Florida debut with SPCA Tampa Bay

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The wildly popular Internet Cat Video Festival – now on world tour – will be held for the first time in Florida on Saturday, May 16 when SPCA Tampa Bay hosts the festival at the ARTpool Gallery in St. Petersburg.

The Internet Cat Video Festival started in 2012 when employees from Walker Art Center, a contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, wondered if cat videos – incredibly popular on the Internet – would have a similar appeal in an outdoor film festival format. They were right: 10,000 people attended the first festival and the Internet Cat Video Festival started on the national circuit, which has expanded internationally to include events in such cities as London, Athens and Sydney.

In St. Petersburg, SPCA Tampa Bay is teaming up with ARTpool Gallery for the Tampa Bay Internet Cat Video Festival. The May 16 event is part of the gallery’s monthly Art Party series, which follow themes that bring together art, music and fashion to support local artists.

“The Internet Cat Video Festival is perfect for St. Petersburg because it celebrates our community’s passions: arts and culture and our pets,” said Paula Allen, community program director at SPCA Tampa Bay. “Since the festival originated from an arts center, we chose to partner with ARTpool Gallery to incorporate artistic elements into the Tampa Bay Internet Cat Video Festival.”

Will Braden of Seattle curated this year’s 70-minute video reel. Braden won the Internet Cat Video Festival’s first Golden Kitty award in 2012 for his “Henri Le Chat Noir” video. The reel includes his favorite clips, which range from thoughtful cat documentaries to quirky music videos to “caught on camera” cat antics.

Starting at 8 p.m. on May 16, festivalgoers can enjoy animal-themed art in a variety of mediums. Local artist David Meeks will project cat and dog art on the gallery walls while acrobats dressed as cats will hang from various locations of the gallery.

At 9 p.m. the cat video reel will be shown to a Florida audience for the first time. Following the video screening, models and SPCA staff members will strut down the catwalk for a fashion show. Models will be dressed as cats in professional makeup and sporting animal prints while SPCA staff members will walk the runway with adoptable pets. Three items featured on the runway, created by local artists, will be on sale with proceeds benefitting SPCA Tampa Bay.

Tickets for the Internet Cat Video Festival are available for $10 at www.artpoolrules.com or at the door. Artpool Gallery is located at 2030 Central Ave. in downtown St. Petersburg. For more information on the festival, contact Paula Allen at pallen@spcatampabay.org or 727-586-3594.

About SPCA Tampa Bay

SPCA Tampa Bay accepts all pets surrendered by their owners and sick or injured stray animals. Owners are required to make an appointment but no fee is charged for admission, though donations are strongly encouraged. The organization’s mission is to improve the community by promoting humane care, preventing animal cruelty and reducing pet overpopulation. Community services include animal cruelty investigation, lost/found pet assistance, animal admission and ambulance transport for sick/injured strays. Located on 10 acres in Largo, SPCA programs include pet adoption, free pet behavior help, Sniff University training for dogs and cats, children’s summer camps and more. Founded in 1940, SPCA Tampa Bay is a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization. More than 7,500 animals are admitted each year. For more information, visit www.spcatampabay.org.

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