Feeling catty?
Feline fans will need to put a “paws” on anything else happening the weekend of Nov. 2-3, because that’s when the West Palm Beach CATstravaganza will be at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
For purr-people, the weekend promises to be the cat’s meow: judged competitions, seminars, a vendors’ marketplace, rescue/adoption opportunities, educational demonstrations and presentations on the catwalk (yup, that’s a really important part of this event).
There will also be face painting, cat-themed games and gato giveaways.
CATstravaganza is being produced by Loving Cats Worldwide (LCWW), a 2-year-old organization growing by leaps and bounds and started by sometime-Floridian .
Here are five things to know about Meserve and his CATstravaganza.
1. ARE WE IN A CAT ERA?
“Cats are having their moment,” Meserve says. “I’ve said this for years, especially living in urban cities … cat ownership has increased. Babies have decreased, to an extent. And people are living in smaller spaces and getting more cats in. And cats being the most-watched videos on the internet. We love cats because they’re jerks, you know what I mean? You need to work for their attention. So it’s just a perfect kind of thing that coincides with everything going on: Taylor Swift and her love of cats. I think 2023 and onward is now the year. It was my personal goal when I started this.”
2. WORLDWIDE YES, BUT BASED IN FLORIDA
Though Meserve lives in Vila de Cucujães, Portugal, and oversees the staging of shows all over the globe, Loving Cats Worldwide is actually a Florida-based company. Meserve’s family relocated from Boston to Englewood — on Florida’s Gulf Coast — just before he started the organization back in 2022 (after living in San Francisco and London). So he uses Florida as a base when producing LCWW’s events in North America. Even his is registered in Florida. “So I’m probably spending, I don’t know, three or four months a year in Florida,” he adds. “I have a Florida driver’s license. I vote in Florida. It’s the perfect timing, because we vote that Tuesday after West Palm, right?”
3. THE NEW KIT ON THE BLOCK
LCWW is a bit of an “industry disruptor,” according to Meserve, who was initially a judge and participant in The International Cat Association (TICA), the more traditional and staid registry of cat-dom. Starting around 2012, he did some shows in London, calling his TICA-sanctioned organization London Cats Worldwide. But after a while, he wanted “to reinvigorate a whole new generation,” Meserve recalls. ” And it was just kind of time. So we literally broke away. I broke away. I left in quite a big fanfare, quite a big break from The International Cat Association. We broke away with about 10 or 12 judges as well.”
The first show in 2022 was in Surrey, England. Since then, LCWW has dug its claws into the irreverent vibe of all those internet cat memes, with engaging social media posts and cat-egories that celebrate felines without pedigree. There are even categories for rescues.
4. WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS AT THE SHOW THAT MAKES IT PURR-FECT FOR PURRING-PET PEOPLE?
“There will be a full breed show and household pet show at the same time, where we have judges from all over coming in this show,” Meserve explains. “We could have between 70 and 100 cats. We don’t take hundreds and hundreds of cats in the venue, because we spend a lot of time with the cats and we spend a lot of time teaching about the different breeds, the history and all these kinds of things.”
There are lots of groupings, from kittens to juniors to adult cats. There are even brackets for spays/neuters as well as household pets and moggies (a mixed-breed cat). The VIC Class, or “Very Important Cat,” is open to exhibitors and has no restrictions.
“I do a Catwalk, which is basically a meet-the-breeds, where I do … a talk about about everything, about the show and what’s going on and how everybody can do their part and help out,” he says. “We have educational seminars going through the whole weekend. So there’ll be specific breeders and owners that will talk about breeds. There’ll be talks with the rescues and how everybody can do their part to help in eliminating the overwhelming rescue situation.”
There will be a Q&A session, in which potential pet owners can ask if a particular breed is a good match for their home, as well as about 40 vendors over the course of the weekend offering everything from gourmet catnip and handcrafted toys to cat trees and carriers.
5. IS ALL THE TALK ABOUT “CRAZY CAT LADIES” HELPING OR HURTING CATSTRAVAGANZA?
“I suppose … any press is good press, any PR is good PR,” he says. “And you know, the ‘crazy cat lady’ stigma or stereotype is valid. But the way it was used was not the best delivery by [vice presidential nominee] J.D. Vance, let’s be honest. These women exist, and they take extreme care of their cats. They’re passionate. And there are crazy cat men. I suppose I could fall into that category.
“Everybody knows the crazy cat lady exists, but I don’t think that anybody realized that they would form together and become such a force. I mean, I follow a couple Facebook groups and Instagram groups — they have really, really gotten together in a strong form to do anything they can to really come out of the woodwork. So, I’m kind of happy. It couldn’t be more perfect.”
Meserve adds, “Lots of times, boyfriends or husbands come to the show kind of begrudgingly, like, ‘OK, we’re gonna do this because I love you, honey.’ But they leave and they’re like, ‘That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I am completely shocked at how much I enjoyed that!’ That’s pretty common.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: West Palm Beach CATstravaganza
WHEN: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 2-3
WHERE: , 9067 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach
COST:
- $30 adult one-day ticket
- $40 adult flexible ticket (admission both days)
- $25 one-day ticket for seniors (age 65 and older) and youths (12-17)
- $15 one-day ticket for kids (age 6-11)
- $20 for “Meet & Greet with Steven Meserve” add-on
- $100 for a upgrade
INFORMATION:
