Im-paw-tant News
Austin's cats-only convention pops back into town for biggest paw-ty ever
Warning for the pun-adverse — bad jokes ahead. POP Cats, Austin's first cats-only convention, is returning to Austin for two days of paw-tying.
Back for its second year at the Palmer Events Center, POP Cats celebrates all things feline, with onsite cat adoptions, more than 80 exhibitors, art, special workshops, music, face painting, educational programming, costume contests, and other cat-tractions.
Headlining the event is Kitten Lady aka Hannah Shaw, a popular author and animal rights advocate. Emceeing the event is TrapKing aka Sterling Davis, the Atlanta-based 'cat-vocate' who provides education on humane ways "to prevent overpopulation and spreading of disease in feral cat communities."
"Kitten Lady and TrapKing have both risen to fame through their hip, inspirational digital content that displays the importance of taking action in the community to improve the lives of our beloved feline friends," organizers said in a release. "Their participation highlights the event’s advocacy and educational programming — a core component of its mission."
Another im-purr-tant part of POP Cats' mission is supporting area nonprofits. In 2019, eight feline-friendly Central Texas nonprofits, including Austin Animal Center, Austin Humane Society, Austin Street Cat Rescue, Bastrop Animal Rescue, Emancipet, Texas Humane Heroes, Shadow Cats, and Williamson County Regional Shelter, will participate. In turn, POP Cats donates a portion of each ticket to help with adoptions, volunteer recruitment, and other initiatives.
The radi-claw idea for POP Cats is from brother-sister duo Edgar Alexander and Johana Flores, who debuted the event in Miami in 2017 before moving it to Austin in 2018. This year, in addition to coming back to the Capital City, POP Cats is also hosting an event in Portland, Oregon.
This paw-some good time returns to Austin on May 4-5. One-day passes are $15 for adults, $10 for children. Weekend badges run $30 for adults, $20 for children. Special workshops and events, including a meet and greet with Kitten Lady require a special ticket.
We're not kitten around, missing out on POP Cats would be a cat-astrophe, so snag those tickets soon.