“Your house will always be blessed with love, laughter, and friendship if you have a cat.” – Lewis Carroll

It was a simple idea that came from the mind of John Edwards while he was walking through a big neighborhood. The man, a self-proclaimed dog person, posts pictures of cats on X, formerly known as Twitter. Edwards said his silly sense of humor led to his idea – a cat tour.

“When I walk around — I walk a lot for transportation — it’s in a densely populated neighborhood with a lot of apartment buildings. It’s also a neighborhood that has a lot of historic buildings and architecture, homes that were built in the 1890s or earlier. So there are the historic home tours and as a way to poke fun at that, I thought, ‘Why don’t we have a cat tour?'” Edwards said.

In the beginning, it was a small tour, the Minnesota man said. “Something where people walk around the neighborhood and check out the cats that are always in the windows.” It took a bit to catch on. “It stayed small, just like 20 people or so, for the first couple of years. None of the cats were pre-registered. It was just whoever happened to be in the window. I didn’t realize it could be something big until 2019,” Edwards said.

For some reason, that year the tour became “the first really big one, where hundreds of people showed up.” And it just kept growing, he said. “This built momentum. People saw all the cats in the windows and a lot of people started posting to social media about it,” Edwards said. 

“We made it on the local morning show and there were a bunch of local articles written about it. Since then, it’s gained momentum into what it is today,” he said. This year’s Wedge LIVE Cat Tour 2024 had more than 500 people that joined, with 20 homes that were on the tour’s route.

I’m always surprised by how many people come and have a really good time. Even though it started out as a joke, it’s also really sincerely a good time. People enjoy themselves,” Edwards said.

He said that the route they take seems less important than spending time as a group. “I don’t think it’s just about the path. It’s about gathering together in a large group of people and being together in the outdoors. There’s something magical about taking a walk together as a group in the streets of the neighborhood,” he said. Cats often stay behind the windows, watching in typical cat fashion – slightly irritated but a bit curious, at the commotion outside. 

People on the cat tour visiting David Montgomery’s cats, Coda and Margeaux. Photo by David Montgomery

There are some cats, however, that come outside with their owners. “It really is just getting together with your neighbors, going for a walk and looking at cats,” said Taylor Dahlin, who lives in a nearby neighborhood. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. It’s just such a fun way to spend an evening.”

But in the end, it is more than about the cats (much to their confusion – after all, they do seem to think the world revolves around them). “It’s not really about the cats,” Edwards said. “It’s a large number of people getting together and sharing an experience. I think people really just like the camaraderie.” 2025’s cat tour is already being scheduled. Edwards can’t wait. “Every year, I’m shocked by how happy everyone looks while it’s happening.”

Sources: People | Washington Post