By Mewla Young
If you love watching cats do all of the wonderfully crazy things that make them cats—you won’t want to miss CatVideoFest 2026. Since 2019, CatVideoFest has raised more than $1 million in financial contributions and helped facilitate adoptions, foster placements, volunteer sign-ups, and other forms of support for cats and animal welfare organizations.[1]
The Cat Writers Association (CWA) is excited to be one of the many sites featuring CatVideoFest at our events. A montage of CatVideoFest clips, curated just for CWA, will be featured once again at our CWA Annual Conference this November.
But who is behind this annual celebration of feline footage?
Meet the Director of CatVideoFest
Will Braden creates and produces CatVideoFest, an annual feature-length compilation of cat videos that travels to hundreds of theaters and other venues each year. The festival gives cat lovers the chance to laugh together while also supporting animal welfare organizations in their own communities.
Will has a degree in creative writing and is also the author of the hardcover book Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat, based on his popular Henri videos.
An Interview with Will Braden
Mewla: Welcome, Will! Thank you so much for joining us today. Your video fest has been shown in museums, theaters, and outdoor festivals all over the world. Tell us, what are some new venues, countries, or cities where you’ll be opening in for the first time this year?
Will: This year doesn’t have any unusual new venues, just a continual expansion. We have at least one show in every US state this year. We’re only in six of the Canadian territories, so maybe we can work on that for next year!
“On an average day, I walk my son to school, come home to watch and edit cat videos for a while, then walk back to pick him up. It’s a pretty great life.”
Mewla: How would you say that the festival has evolved over the years?
Will: Since I’ve been in charge, which is since 2016, my goal has actually been to change as little as possible. I think the basic DNA of the festival, which is that there is always a charitable beneficiary and it’s a bunch of different types of cat videos, is successful because it’s simple and hard to deny! There are always different machinations behind the scenes, but I work hard to make sure that if someone sees the festival in multiple years, they aren’t going to be surprised by a needless change in format. The cat videos never stop getting made, so there is never a shortage of content!
Mewla: One of the many great things that hasn’t changed is that every CatVideoFest showing helps to raise funds for local animal welfare and cat charities. How can charities become involved in promoting and showing the event?
Will: The core of the success of CatVideoFest is the hand-in-hand relationship between independent theaters and local shelters (and animal welfare organizations). Often, when we are approached by a shelter about doing a show in an area we haven’t been before, our first question for them is about suggesting a good theater. And on the other hand, when we are approached by a theater, our first question is getting their take on a good local shelter. There is a lot of overlap in those two communities, and we place a lot of trust in the idea that local people know local stuff better than we do.
Mewla: That sounds incredibly rewarding for local cat charities and theater alike. What has been the most personally rewarding part of creating and running the CatVideoFest?
Will: This might be an unusual answer. I love what I do and I am proud of the money and awareness we’ve raised over the decade-plus I’ve been doing this. But on a personal note, the most rewarding thing for me on a day-to-day basis is that I have a job I love, and that I can be proud of, and one that allows me to be flexible enough to be wholly present with my family and friends. On an average day, I walk my son to school, come home to watch and edit cat videos for a while, then walk back to pick him up. It’s a pretty great life.
Mewla: Speaking to cat writers (and other feline content creators), that life sounds like as good as it gets, lol. It’s also obvious from your work that you understand cats. Do you have a cat or cats now? If so, please tell us about them.
Will: I have one cat. She’s an elder cat now. Her name is Nin (named after Anaïs Nin and the sound she made as a kitten). I adopted her from a shelter as a kitten and she’s been with me throughout my entire cat career. She is a great companion in that she sleeps in my office while I work, but she rarely appears in the reel. She mostly sleeps.
Mewla: Very cool! Anaïs Nin’s writing definitely reflects the fierce, untamable, and independent spirit we associate with cats. Such a great name for your feline companion. Thank you so much for visiting with and sharing with us, Will.
Find a CatVideoFest Screening Near You
Whether you’re a lifelong cat-video addict or simply looking for a fun way to support cats in your community, CatVideoFest offers the perfect combination of laughter, feline entertainment, and helping animals in need.
Want to find a CatVideoFest screening near you? Visit the official CatVideoFest.com website to learn more about the 2026 festival, find participating theaters, and discover how your local theater and animal welfare organizations can get involved.
If you’re attending the Cat Writers’ Association’s 2026 Conference this November, be sure to join us for our Friday Fun Night CatVideoFest screening!
References:
1. CatVideoFest, “About.” Downloaded Aug2026 from https://catvideofest.com/about/
About the Author
Mewla Young is a writer whose work spans academic publishing, fiction, and animal welfare. Her fiction explores coming-of-age themes, the human-animal bond, and the humane treatment of animals, often with a speculative twist. Mewla and her husband live with four amazing felines who star in their cozy YouTube channel [Youtube.com/@CuddlingCats]. Her website, [mewlayoung.com], is a place to learn, connect, celebrate, and advocate for the cats who share our lives.
we saw our first CatVideoFest here in New Zealand in 2026. It was so much fun and I was delighted to discover the clips of deaf cat Sigrid whose dad is a cyclist.
Thank you will for a genius idea that brings so much happiness to the world.
Thank you for sharing, Marjorie.
How exciting! I’ve attended a few here in Portland. Always charming.
Agree! Thanks Mollie.
What a fun interview, guest, and topic! Looking forward to the Friday Fun Night CatVideoFest this year. Spreading happiness one cat video at a time! 🙂
Appreciate your kind thoughts, Ramona!