WORTH IT!
Especially if you love cats or have any feline friends at home!
We got the 1 day pass for Saturday and although $40+ is a bit steep, it definitely paid for itself with the amount of free goodies that we got during the event !
There is convention center parking that is closer for $15, but the lot was full when we got there so we opted for a small private lot for $4 the entire day. Only a couple blocks of walking and we actually went back and forth to our car to drop off all the freebies that we got!
The con itself is in one exhibit hall with some small stage areas for panel talks with experts and influencers in the industry and a meet and greet area to meet some of the cat / human celebrities. There are vendors throughout the hall with loads of cat related goods ranging from food, litter, toys, and neat new tech for cats (those fancy litter box machines, cat health/fitness tracker, etc.) and of course cat themed merchandise for humans too (clothes, prints, pins, jewelry, kitchen goods, and much much more). There is also a small artist alley with artists vending their cat themed goods as well.
Lots of cat rescue, fostering, and health related tables too.
From this event, we got free wet cat food, dry food samples, cat treats including Churu tubes, cat toys, a cat first aid kit, tote bags, buttons, stickers, a pet tag with our cat's named engraved on it, and even bags of litter too!
At the back of the hall there was an adoption area where you can meet the kitties that are up for adoption. We didn't think we'd leave with a new furry friend, but we saw an older kitten with a cone on his head and towards the end of the day he wasn't adopted yet. Turns out he was a "sponsored" cat, so we got to adopt him and take him home COMPLETELY FREE. No adoption fees and the little dude was already neutered, vaccinated, had all his medical check ups, and all the other bells and whistles. Love you, Radagast!
Adoption process was easy and streamlined. Everyone working the Best Friends Animal Society adoption village was super nice and helpful. We got our adoption certificate, some adoption freebies, an entire bag of litter from World's Best cat litter, and a carrier.
5/5 Experience! Will definitely go back again, but probably will avoid the adoption area to not add anymore cats to our already 3 cat strong family. read more