Learn about the festival where you can watch 100,000 cat videos

Yes, that’s right. 100,000 cat videos. Well, let’s be more specific, Will Braden has seen a whopping 100,000 cat videos throughout his life as director of CatVideoFest, “the world’s #1 cat video festival.” Braden went from a cinematographer with a love for cats to a full-time cat video collector & festival holder. 

According to Braden, it’s taken him the past ten years to complete the feat of watching over 100,000 cat videos. Not only does he have to watch the hundreds of cat videos submitted for the festival, but also stays on the lookout for new cat videos trending online.

Discover Braden’s journey into the world of cat videos and how you can get in on the fun at Seattle’s CatVideoFest AKA the world’s #1 cat video festival. Here’s everything you need to know:

Seattle’s CatVideoFest

Starting this Friday, the CatVideoFest will be playing for three days at the Cinema Egyptian in 100 other cities throughout the United States. At the film festival, you can witness the funniest and cutest cat videos to ever grace the internet, which were also handpicked by Braden. 

After ten years, you’d think he may get sick of cat videos. Yet, that isn’t the case at all. “Everyone deserves a fun cat video to distract them from all the tough stuff in life,” said Braden.

Take a video such as “Bert the Cat vs Cat Balloon,” Some 8 million YouTube views since 2011. Braden has seen the viral video dozens of times and he still can’t help laughing out loud. There’s an orange cat named Bert facing off against a balloon of another orange cat. As expected, the balloon is quickly demolished. “It’s the perfect set-up for a classic cat video,” explained Braden.

Our cat video expert revealed that he has to watch around 400 submissions of cat videos in preparation for the annual festival. In addition to the 400 videos, Braden also has to scour the internet for even more cat video content. Braden has been running Seattle’s CatVideoFest ever since 2016 and has no intention of stepping down.

When asked if there are some limits to what he can submit, he explained that he does have to skim the list for the highest quality cat videos. “There was one a few years ago that I thought was pretty funny. It was a bunch of videos of cats coughing up hairballs, edited to techno music,” he said. Unfortunately, it just didn’t make the cut.

The life of a cat video connoisseur

Will Braden lives with his wife, Erica Braden, and their two-year-old son, Elliot. Of course, we can’t forget their beloved cat, Nin. Erica, a public school first-grade teacher, has admitted that she doesn’t exactly share the same passion for cats that her husband has. 

“I like cats, just not as much as he does,” said Erica. “I saw the passion he had for the videos, how hard he was willing to make it a success.”

Nin has yet to star in her own videos. “She does not have the imperious stare that Henry had,” says Braden about his late cat Henry. However, Nin does keep him company at his home office as he works at the cat festival.

“We think of cats as being aloof. We like to see them taken down a peg, without being hurt,” detailed Braden.

In Seattle, the festival runs Friday through Sunday at Cinema Egyptian as part of SIFF, the Seattle International Film Festival. A portion of ticket sales supports PAWS.

—

Would you go to the CatVideoFest? How many cat videos have you seen in your lifetime? Let us know in the comments below!