5 Reasons to attend the June 1, 2019 Edmonton Cat Festival (+ Enter to Win Tickets)

As some of you may know, I am the Founder (and Cat’s Meow!) of this annual event, which celebrates cats, cat culture, and cat people, and most impurrtantly, is entirely not-for-profit and donates 100% of proceeds to local cat rescues, helping cats in need.

The 2019 Edmonton International Cat Festival returns Caturday, June 1, and I’m really excited for the pawsibility of bringing our total donated to local cat rescues from $81,000 up to $100,000 this year. But it can’t be done without your support and your attendance!

This year, there’s lots of ameowzing CATivities to check out at the Edmonton International Cat Festival. I encourage you to pre-purrchase your ticket (tickets are available at the door too!) and in doing so, know that you’re helping an ameowzing cause in your community.

I’m especially excited about this year’s festival because TELUS is one of our festival sponsors! As a proud #TELUS_Partner ambassador, I am thrilled that this company I’ve aligned with, who prioritizes investing in community initiatives, has chosen to invest in one of the biggest ways I give back to my community.

At the Cat Festival on June 1, be sure to visit the TELUS booth, where they’ll be airing episodes of KittenTV, doing a draw for a chance to win 1 of 7 tech prizes: an Apple Watch, fitbits, or mophie charging ports, and hosting an interactive game where attendees can win cat treats from Tangent’s Treats, a local pet treat food truck!

Note: as a Team TELUS ambassador, I write about different aspects of TELUS and how it’s a part of my life. As TELUS is the Most Giving Company in the Canada (seriously!), it was a natural fit for me to tie my charitable efforts with Cat Fest into how TELUS gives back too.

This is a sponsored TELUS partner post.

If you need more convincing about attending the Edmonton International Cat Festival,

Here are 5 reasons to attend the June 1, 2019 Edmonton International Cat Festival!

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1. You can meet a celebrity Adventure Cat who has over 1.4 million followers

Each year of the festival I bring in a celebrity cat to do meet and greets with fans and it’s always one of the most exciting parts of the event. This year’s celebrity cat guest is Suki the Adventure Cat, an Alberta-based bengal cat who has amassed a global audience of over 1.4 million followers! Suki and her pawrent Marti will be doing meet and greets and an on-stage interview and I’m so excited for festival attendees meet this incredibly photogenic and adventurous cat!

Read more about Suki the Adventure Cat!

2. There are presentations that will make you laugh and cry (and other feelings)

Something I wish I had was more time at the festival to take in all the ameowzing presentations on the Petland Main Stage! You could literally just sit at the Main Stage all day for back-to-back-to-back-to-back presentations and that could be your entire festival experience (but don’t do that, there’s so meowny things happening, you’ve got to plan the day properly to take in a couple presentations that sound most interesting for you, plus all the other purr-gramming! This year there’s a presentation topic entitled: Good Night, Moon: How to Process Grief and Honour Pets Who’ve Passed On, presented by Adam Rozenhart and Rachel Dunn, which is sure to make you feel many feels. There’s also a Cat Poetry Open Mic where cat lovers will read aloud poems they’ve written about their cats (or cats in general), hosted by the Edmonton Public Library Writer-in-Residence Matthew Stepanic. I want to write and read a poem about my cat Thor’s sandpaper kisses!

Read about all the different Main Stage presentations

3. There will be robotic cats

The festival has adoptable cats, show cats, celebrity cats and… ROBO CATS! How cool is that? The Edmonton Public Library are bringing their robots (dressed up as cats) to the event, so attendees can try the EPL’s ROBO CATS Obstacle Course. Plus then you’ll be able to say you’ve seen and even controlled a robo cat before, lol. Makes for a great conversation piece at your next party, probably.

Read about all the different festival CATivities

4. It’s a one-stop shop for alllllll things cat

Literally everything you would want and need as a cat owner and a cat lover is available for you at the festival. There will be 50 vendors selling everything for cats and everything for cat people. There will be a ton of local crafters, designers, and businesses including sponsors Petland, Homes Alive, Majesty & Friends and Cat Cafe on Whyte. For cat people that includes everything from cat jewelry to cat print clothing, cat print bags to cat magnets and MORE. For cats that includes everything from cat toys to cat food, cat furniture to cat clothes. There are so many cat things you can buy at the Edmonton International Cat Festival, all in one place, all at one time, it’s convenient and awesome!

Read about all the different vendors and sponsors

5. It’s for a great cause

I’ve mentioned this already, but how could I not talk about the cause when talking up the festival? It really is for a great cause. This year’s festival proceeds will support five different Edmonton area rescues: Little Cats Lost, SAFE Team Rescue, Zoe’s Animal Rescue, Greater Edmonton Animal Rescue Society (GEARS) and A Pet’s Pantry. Each of these rescues do incredible work helping homeless cats and kittens, and the festival donation makes such a huge impact for their small organizations. Simply attending this festival means we can donate more money to help these rescues continue to do great work helping cats in need.

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I’m truly purroud of the difference this event is making in my local community and as a TELUS ambassador, I’m so proud to be aligned with the Most Giving Company in Canada—and excited about TELUS’ involvement in this year’s event!

For blog, social media and other partnerships I do, it’s important for me that the company I choose to work with has similar values as I do.

TELUS is involved in so many community initiatives—from their Health for Good, Mobility for Good, Internet for Good programs, to their #EndBullying campaign, to #GiveWhereWeLive community boards.

Since 2000, the TELUS team has contributed $1.2 billion (that’s a ‘B’!) of financial support and volunteerism to create stronger, healthier communities. This past year alone, TELUS has given 7% of its pre-tax profits to Canadian charitable organizations to create stronger, healthier communities and supported two million youth through the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. TELUS is the #MostGivingCompany in Canada, and they’ve got the programs, initiatives and dollars to back up that claim!

This summer I’ll be doing more community giving through TELUS, and will be blogging about those experiences as well. I encourage you to consider how you can give back to your community in ways that are meaningful and manageable for you.

And I REALLY hope I see you at the June 1, 2019 Edmonton International Cat Festival!

I’m also excited to give you a chance to attend for free!

** GIVEAWAY **

To enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the June 1, 2019 Edmonton International Cat Festival:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me how you try to give back to the community (big or small!)

Note: You must leave a comment on this post to qualify to win. It’s a mandatory entry.

To increase your chances, you can also do these bonus entries:

• Leave a comment on my Instagram post
• Leave a comment on my Facebook post
• Tweet this:
  • The Edmonton Cat Festival returns June 1, 2019! This celebration of cats, cat culture & cat people donates 100% proceeds to cat rescues! Read @lindork’s blog for 5 reasons to attend & how the #MostGivingCompany in Canada @TELUS is involved: https://linda-hoang.com/5-reasons-to-attend-the-june-1-2019-edmonton-cat-festival-enter-to-win-tickets/ #yeg #yegevents‬

A winner will be randomly selected from all entries received by May 13, 2019. Remember, you must do the mandatory entry of leaving a comment on this blog post in order to qualify.

Please note: blog comments are moderated and may not appear publicly as soon as you post.

Linda