A 70-minute reel of the internet's best cat videos is running at the Speed Art Museum's Speed Cinema in Louisville through mid-August, with a portion of every ticket sold going to a local nonprofit that has spent nearly three decades getting stray cats off the streets. CatVideoFest 2026 kicked off with screenings Sunday and continues with multiple showtimes on some screening dates, some of which already have low ticket availability due to high demand.
An Eight-Day Run
The touring compilation, curated by filmmaker Will Braden, mixes user submissions, animations, music videos, and classic internet memes into a single G-rated program, according to WAVE News. Showtimes are scattered across the coming days: 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. slots on August 12, 13, and 14; a full slate of 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. screenings on August 15; and 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. showings on August 16. General admission tickets run $12, while Speed Art Museum members pay $8, and attendees can buy them online through the museum's official website.
The venue itself is part of the draw. The Speed Cinema is a 142-seat theater built in 2016 as part of a campus expansion designed by wHY Architecture, per the Danish Architecture Center. Founded in 1927 on the University of Louisville campus, the Speed is Kentucky's oldest and largest art museum and offers free admission every Sunday, according to Louisville Public Media.
Ticket Sales Feed a Local Rescue Mission
Proceeds from CatVideoFest 2026 go toward Alley Cat Advocates, the Louisville-based nonprofit the museum is partnering with for the run, WAVE News reports. Founded in 1999 by Karen Little and her husband, the 501(c)(3) organization has altered more than 50,000 stray cats since 1999, according to a handbook published by HumanePro. The group also works alongside Louisville Metro Animal Services as part of a public-private partnership.
That partnership has produced measurable results. A study published in the journal *Animals* and cited by the Louisville Metro Government discusses significant reductions associated with targeted trap-neuter-return efforts by Alley Cat Advocates, working alongside Louisville Metro Animal Services. The group has used trap-neuter-return and return-to-field approaches, while Louisville Metro Animal Services' work with cats is also discussed in HumanePro's handbook.
A Festival With Roots in a Museum Experiment
CatVideoFest's curator has been at this for over a decade. Braden first gained national attention in 2012 when his black-and-white short *Henri 2: Paw de Deux* won the Golden Kitty Award at the inaugural Internet Cat Video Festival, an event hosted by the Walker Art Center. The compilation has also been shown in theaters in connection with animal shelters, charities, and cat-welfare organizations.
The appeal isn't just charitable — cat videos have also been discussed in terms of their effects on viewers. YouTube has hosted cat videos.
Louisville is hosting CatVideoFest 2026. With several Louisville showtimes already running low on tickets due to demand, organizers are encouraging anyone hoping to catch a screening before the run wraps up in mid-August to book soon through the Speed Art Museum's website.
