Cat lovers of Plant City might want to get their calendars out right “meow” and make plans for next weekend.
Lakeland-based New Vision Cat Club is hosting its first-ever Plant City cat show at the TECO Expo Hall at the Florida Strawberry Festival fairgrounds June 1 and 2. The “Strawberries & Sunshine” show, the first of two events planned for 2019, is expected to have at least two dozen breeds — possibly 150 to 200 cats total — strutting their stuff to impress judges grading on Cat Fanciers Association standards. It’s not unlike the American Kennel Club and Westminster dog shows broadcast on national television every year or smaller dog shows that have even come to Plant City in the past, except it’s all with cats instead of dogs.
This show, called “Strawberries & Sunshine,” will have 10 judging rings and will spread out the competitions with six on June 1 and four on June 2. Final-round events will be held on both days. There will also be three specialty rings.
The June event is going to function almost like a litmus test for the future and will strictly focus on the judging competitions. New Vision will host another two-day event at the expo hall on September 21 and 22 that will be complete with the agility contests.
“This show, I wanted to sort of go with a ‘less is more’ approach to get our feet wet,” show manager Rich Nolte said.
There will be plenty for cat owners to do, though. Nolte expects eight to 12 vendors at the show to sell treats, toys, blankets and more, a professional photographer on hand to work with the cats and several food trucks offering burgers, empanadas, baked goods, kettle corn and more.
Nolte and New Vision settled on the Plant City location because it “checked all the boxes” the club was looking for: proximity to I-4 and Tampa International Airport, size and familiarity. Nolte himself grew up showing rabbits at the Florida Strawberry Festival and knew from his experiences Plant City would be a good site for an animal-friendly show.
“I know it’s a great town with a lot of people that love their animals, so I figured this would be the perfect place to launch it,” he said.
The CFA is the world’s largest registry of pedigreed cats and has been active since 1906. New Vision was founded in Lakeland in 2016 and has previously hosted shows in Atlanta, Georgia. Though based in central Florida, it has members from all over this state as well as Georgia and Kentucky. New Vision styles itself as a Bengal breed club and Nolte said it was instrumental in getting the breed officially recognized by the CFA in 2016, but its Plant City show is friendly to all breeds officially recognized by the CFA.
The show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 2. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and kids, and Hillsborough County teachers get in for free with their school ID badge. For more information on the club, visit facebook.com/groups/1509731129332314.