Internet Cat Video Festival

Last updated

The Internet Cat Video Festival was a national competition that celebrates cat videos on the internet. Many of these festivals include appearances by special guests and celebricats (such as Grumpy Cat and the creator of Nyan Cat), live music, costume contests, art projects, and booths hosting local animal resource nonprofits. The 2013 Minneapolis show featured a cat sculpture made out of butter. [1]

Contents

From Conception - 2015

The idea for the first Internet Cat Video Festival came from Katie Hill, a program associate at the Walker Art Center, who suggested it early in 2012 as a sort of joke. [2] The Festival quickly became a viral phenomenon, drawing a crowd of more than 10,000 fans to the Walker's Open Field. The event caught the attention of local, national, and international audiences and media including the New York Times. [2] Walker Art Center was joined by community partners Feline Rescue, Animal Humane Society, and The Wildcat Sanctuary. [3]

After the inaugural event, the Internet Cat Video Festival went on tour. [4] Stops included UMass, Boston, the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, and Memphis' Brooks Museum. The festival was even included in the Vienna Independent Shorts in Vienna, Austria and the Jerusalem Film Festival.

The next big Fest took place in Oakland, CA on May 11, 2013. [5] All profits benefitted the East Bay SPCA. On June 21 and 22, 2013, the Cat Video Fest was at Portland's Hollywood Theatre in partnership with the Theatre's "Future So Bright" project. [6]

On Saturday, October 19, 2013, the Cat Video Festival was held in Chicago, IL, supported by the Chicago Cat Rescue and Tree House.

Moving into the second year, catvidfest was booked for 15 tour dates, including festivals in San Francisco, Chicago, Brooklyn, and New York, plus experimental versions at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and at CultureTECH in Derry Northern Ireland. In 2013, the Internet Cat Video Festival returned to Minneapolis and screens at the Great Minnesota Get-Together: the State Fair Grandstand. [7]

The third Internet Cat Video Film Festival was held at Walker's Open Field on August 14, 2014. [8]

The fourth and last Film Festival took place in 2015. Walker Art Center discontinued the event "to put our resources towards the remodeling of [the] campus including the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden,” according to spokeswoman Rachel Joyce. All of the festival memorabilia was given to the Minnesota Historical Society. [9]

St. Paul Saints’ Cat Video Festival (2015 - )

Despite no longer being involved with the Walker Art Center, the festival has been an annual tradition in the Twin Cities (Minnesota). After the Walker ended its involvement in 2015, the St. Paul Saints and CHS Field adopted hosted the event. [10]

In 2020, the now St. Paul Saints’ Cat Video Festival went virtual. [11] In 2021 the plan is to bring it back in person. [12]

Media

The Festival uses the Twitter hashtag #catvidfest. The first nominations for #catvidfest closed July 30, 2012. Festival mastermind Katie Hill "watched every single [of the 10,000 submissions], eventually boiling them down into 65 minutes of concentrated kitty shenanigans". [13] The final chosen videos were divided into CATegories like comedy, documentary, animated, foreign, etc. The "People's Choice" vote was open from August 6 – 12, 2012. This "Golden Kitty award", chosen by visitors to the Walker's Web site, went to Will Braden for his two-minute opus "Henri, Paw de Deux". [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Orchestra</span>

The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Art Center</span> Art center in Minnesota, United States

The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, together with the adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the Cowles Conservatory, it has an annual attendance of around 700,000 visitors. The museum's permanent collection includes over 13,000 modern and contemporary art pieces including books, costumes, drawings, media works, paintings, photography, prints, and sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota State Fair</span> State fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota

The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair. The state fairgrounds, adjacent the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, are in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of Saint Paul and the adjacent city of Roseville, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and eat many different types of food—often on a stick. The Minnesota State Fair was named the best state fair in the United States in 2015 by readers of USA Today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis Sculpture Garden</span> American sculpture garden

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an 11-acre (4.5 ha) park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. It is located near the Walker Art Center, which operates it in coordination with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. It reopened June 10, 2017 after a reconstruction that resulted with the Walker and Sculpture Garden being unified as one 19-acre campus. It is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the country, with 40 permanent art installations and several other temporary pieces that are moved in and out periodically.

<i>Spoonbridge and Cherry</i> Sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in Minneapolis, MN, US

Spoonbridge and Cherry is a sculptural fountain designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. It was funded by a $500,000 donation from art collector Frederick R. Weisman and is permanently located in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The piece was completed and installed in 1988 for the Sculpture Garden's opening and consists of a large cherry resting atop a large spoon partially straddling a small pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loring Park, Minneapolis</span> Neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Loring Park is a neighborhood in the Central Community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Located on the southwest corner of downtown Minneapolis, it also lends its name to Loring Park, the largest park in the neighborhood. The official boundaries of the neighborhood are Lyndale Avenue to the west, Interstate 394 to the north, 12th Street to the northeast, Highway 65 to the east, and Interstate 94 to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis</span> City in Minnesota, United States

Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins in timber and as the flour milling capital of the world. It occupies both banks of the Mississippi River and adjoins Saint Paul, the state capital of Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Fringe Festival</span> Performing arts festival in Minnesota

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is a performing arts festival held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, every summer, usually during the first two weeks in August. The eleven-day event, which features performing artists of many genres and disciplines, is one of many Fringe Festivals in North America. Minnesota Fringe is the largest nonjuried festival in the United States and the third-largest Fringe festival in North America. In 2013, Minnesota Fringe ran August 1–11 and featured 176 shows with a total of 895 performances in multiple venues around the city and distributed 50,007 tickets over the eleven-day event. In 2007, attendance and box office revenue were adversely affected by the collapse of the I-35W bridge the day before the festival opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cowles Jr.</span> American editor and publisher

John Cowles Jr. was an American editor and publisher, son of John Cowles Sr. (1898–1983). Cowles sat on the boards of directors of the Associated Press and Columbia University's Pulitzer Prizes and had been CEO of Cowles Media Company, founded by his grandfather and until 1998 the parent of the Star Tribune.

Kinji Akagawa is an American sculptor, printmaker, and arts educator best known for sculptural constructions that also serve a practical function. A pioneer in the public art movement, Akagawa has throughout his career examined the relationship between art and community, most notably the concept of art as a process of inquiry. His sculpture and public artworks are noted for their refined elegance and use of natural materials, such as granite, basalt, field stone, cedar, and ipe wood.

Rock the Garden was an annual summer music festival organized by the Walker Art Center and Minnesota Public Radio held in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1998 - 2022. Launched by the Walker in 1998, the event was cosponsored by 89.3 The Current and Minnesota Public Radio after 2008, becoming more of an indie rock festival. Since its founding, Rock the Garden has highlighted national artists such as Wilco, Sonic Youth, David Byrne, MGMT, De La Soul, My Morning Jacket, Spoon, Bon Iver, and The Decemberists, and featured a diverse range of local bands like Low, Doomtree, Fog, Iffy, Cloud Cult, Howler, and Trampled By Turtles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keri Pickett</span> American photographer, author and filmmaker

Keri Pickett is an American photographer, author and filmmaker. Pickett's work "pulls subjects from the edges of public awareness to the center of the frame". Pickett was first exposed to photography as a child through her figure-skater/photographer uncle Roy Blakey and years later, as an adult, she made a film about his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri, le Chat Noir</span> Web series known for its cat protagonist

Henri, le Chat Noir is a web series of short films on the existential musings of the cat Henri, written and directed by William Braden. Henri was portrayed by Henry (2003–2020), a male longhair tuxedo cat. Videos featuring Henri have been viewed millions of times, and have been featured by news outlets such as The Huffington Post and ABC News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Christensen</span> American butter artist

Linda Christensen is believed to be the only butter carver in the United States who works with live models. She is known for carving the likeness of Princess Kay of the Milky Way along with the 11 Princess Kay finalists out of 90-pound blocks of butter at the annual Minnesota State Fair. Each year, her work draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Dairy Building, where the Midwest Dairy Association sponsors the butter carving in front of fair goers. The newly crowned Princess Kay and 11 finalists each spend about six hours with Christensen in the rotating 40-degree butter booth, as Christensen carves their likenesses out of butter. Princess Kay sits in the booth on the first day of the fair while the 11 finalists get their likenesses carved over the remaining days of the state fair.

<i>Lil Bub & Friendz</i> 2013 American film

Lil Bub & Friendz is a 2013 documentary directed by Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner. It stars Lil Bub and her owner Mike Bridavsky and looks at cats on the Internet, Internet memes and viral videos. Lil Bub & Friendz premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013 and won the Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film.

Zatara, is a female tabby cat living in California, United States, who rescued her human family's child from being attacked by a neighbor dog named Scrappy. The moment was recorded on household surveillance. The footage uploaded on YouTube received over 16.8 million views in the first 48 hours.

BodyCartography Project is a dance performance duo composed of Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad. Their work is influenced by their studies at the Body-Mind Center, where dance is taught based on a somatic movement approach. The pair have created over 150 dance works, including site-specific creations, stage productions, film, and installations. BodyCartography Project makes dances that engage with the vital materiality of the body, embodiment, and interaction of body and space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cats and the Internet</span> Images and videos of cats on the Internet

Images and videos of domestic cats make up some of the most viewed content on the World Wide Web, particularly image macros in the form of lolcats. ThoughtCatalog has described cats as the "unofficial mascot of the Internet".

Chris Knutson is an American stand-up comedian from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is known for his work as half of the comedy-rap duo Valley Meadows. Patrick Strait of City Pages said that "Knutson has established himself as one of the most consistently funny performers" in the Midwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loring Park</span> Urban park in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Loring Park is a park in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

References

  1. ↑ "Check Out This Cat Sculpture Made out of Butter" . Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  2. 1 2 3 Ryzik, Melena (31 August 2012). "At Cat Video Film Festival, Stars Purr for Close-Ups". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  3. ↑ "Internet Cat Video Festival 2013". Walker Art. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  4. ↑ "The Nine Lives of the Internet Cat Video Festival". Walker Art. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  5. ↑ "OakCatVidFest". Oakland Cat Vid Fest. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  6. ↑ "Internet Cat Video Fest". Hollywood Theater. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Internet Cat Video Festival 2013". Walker Art Center. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  8. ↑ "Internet Cat Video Fest returns to Walker Art Center". Star Tribune . The Star Tribune Company. August 8, 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Goodbye, kitty: Walker Art Center is ending Internet Cat Video Festival". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  10. ↑ "Minnesota's annual cat video festival will be free online this year". kare11.com. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  11. ↑ "Entries open for 2020 Cat Video Festival, with a $1,000 prize on the line". Twin Cities. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  12. ↑ catfestmn (2016-05-04). "Cat Video Festival 2020". Cat Video Fest. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  13. ↑ "Apocalypse Meow". Slate. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.