Let’s Chat: Meowtastic day in Calgary
By Linda Tooth on September 27, 2023.
I am forever thankful to a work colleague who mentioned to me that a cat festival was happening in Calgary on Sept. 22 and 23. I went to Facebook immediately and located the link for the second annual Calgary Cat Festival and Market happening at the Telus Convention Centre downtown. To say I was excited would be the biggest understatement known to mankind. I decided I would be driving up on Saturday and going to the festival in the morning and then maybe do a bit of shopping before coming home that afternoon. I used to live in Calgary and am very comfortable with driving there and, let’s be honest, it’s an easy drive there and back when the weather co-operates. I asked a few feline-loving friends if they would be interested in joining me, and they said yes! We left Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and chatted and laughed the entire drive to Calgary. It was the quickest three-hour journey of our lives. We parked the car at Sunridge Mall and took the LRT into downtown Calgary. It was so easy and convenient as we got off the train at the second stop into the core and walked a few blocks to the Telus Convention Centre. One friend was very leery of utilizing the LRT due to recent issues encountered on the platforms and the trains, but we had no issues at all. We had pre-purchased our festival tickets ($10 each with a portion going to animal rescues in Calgary) checked in and began our epic journey into all things feline. Vendors, animal rescues and sessions regarding feline health were available for everyone. I met so many great people doing amazing things to help animals. Years of teaching communications and how to network saw me exchange business cards with the vendors. I am now anxious to connect and collaborate with them on how I can improve the quality of life for our community and feral cats. I could have spent all day at the festival, but I needed to feed my friends as they were starting to border on being hangry. For those who do not know, hangry is a combination of hungry and angry, and women who start to show symptoms of hangry can be downright ugly. We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant on Stephen Avenue Mall and then back onto the train to pick up my car and commence with shopping. I love shopping in Calgary as the opportunities for plus-sized women and shopping in Medicine Hat can be limiting. We were back on the highway by 5 p.m. and started our journey east. Again, the stories and laughter made the three-hour journey home go by very quickly. Do not be afraid of going to Calgary with friends for the day. The festivals and events happening in the ‘big city’ make for an enjoyable day out. Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College 13-12
