The brainchild of friends Aaron Getz, an event promoter, and Sarah Hoyles, a communications consultant and journalist, the Edmonton Pop-Up Cafe ran over the Canada Day weekend, allowing cat lovers from all over the city the chance to sup on their favourite beverage whilst playing, petting and cuddling some of Edmonton’s cutest foster cats, provided by Zoe’s Animal Rescue Society and the SAFE Team.  The proud owners of two rescue cats, Aaron and Sarah came up with the idea a few months ago and engaged the services of some Edmonton organizations they’d worked with/had experience of in the past.  There were 260 bookable spots available; when the initial allocation of 200 sold out within two days, an extra 60 spots were added which sold out in two hours!

As a venue Aaron had worked with in the past, he knew Latitude 53 was the perfect space to hold the event.  Specially built barriers were erected with an entrance door which, although expertly patrolled throughout the weekend, was almost breached by one wily cat.  Aaron and Sarah had previously adopted a cat from Zoe’s so the main cat provider was an easy choice.  Edmonton Pet Photography recorded the event for prosperity and you can check out their shots here.  Completing the set-up was Iconoclast Coffee which provided the beverages for the thirsty cat lovers.

There was a good mix of kittens and adult cats for the first day although it became quickly apparent that kittens flourish better in this kind of atmosphere.  Most of the adult cats were given a well deserved day off on the Sunday, with the SAFE Team kindly providing more kittens for the Sunday.  The event proved an excellent shop window for our four legged friends with a good number of applications being received by the end of the event.

As for the future, Aaron and Sarah said they’d be sitting down to discuss the future after they’d closed the door on this one.  For those who were unlucky enough not to get a ticket for the weekend, Aaron and Sarah think its more than likely they’ll repeat the event so it’s probably worthwhile to keep an eye on their website here for updates…

Anyways, here’s some photos…