Happy Friday! This is my second year attending the Internet Cat Video Festival! I attended last year in 2014 back when it was held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This year, it was held at the Minnesota St. Paul Saints Stadium.

Before the cat video festival, we went to eat at a really nice restaurant in Minneapolis called Republic. Since I’m 21 now, I ordered a lighter ale beer brewed locally. Lighter ales are easily my favorite. My sandwich was delicious! It was the turkey & brie sandwich and there was so much brie cheese! There were also these caramelized onions that were amazing too.

The cat video festival was incredibly fun! There were 13,000 people attending this year. It started at 8:30 and continued till 10. We ended up leaving a half hour early due to traffic. We wanted to get out of the rush but we still saw cats doing silly things.

If you’re interested in attending, I have a few tips to make this a smoother experience.

1. Get there really really early.

We were stuck in traffic for 30-45 minutes trying to get there. Parking was awful. Most parking ramps were full and spots on the street are nonexistent. Eventually, the boyfriend found a spot on a ramp that he could squeeze his car into. We also had to park farther away so it took about 10 minutes to walk. We got there with eight minutes to spare for the videos. It was cutting it really close. So, get there as early as you can. It opens at 6:30, so get there around then.

2. Don’t Drive!!

I really wish that we didn’t drive. It would be way more convenient to take the light rail. Sure, the light rail probably takes around 50-60 minutes to get to the place you need to be, but you can plan ahead for that. Plus there are many people flying to St. Paul for an event like this. If you are from the area, don’t drive and utilize public transportation

3. PICNIC or Go Out to Eat nearby

I absolutely loved Republic, but if you’re going to the cat festival, go to a restaurant nearby. We were only 20 minutes from the Saints stadium but it took double the time to get there due to traffic. If money is tight, bring a picnic and blankets to sit on the field and use up spare time.

Overall this event was worth the money. Tickets were only 10 bucks and I would not hesitate to come back again. The cat lady in me thought this festival was really cute. The boyfriend seemed to enjoy it too.