What is Caturday?
Some of the core Caturday Crew and a few other awesome peeps in a rare shot together after the 8 bit Reloaded party back in 2014.
Although it isn’t entirely obvious what Caturday is exactly – from the perspective of an outsider, it becomes fairly apparent, the moment you’re given the opportunity to join in and be part of the fun, that it is a community. The Caturday Crew is no joke of a name, and it doesn’t apply to the stage crew, or the theatrics crew, the performance crew, or the dance crew. Crew refers directly to you, regardless of your technical background. If you are dancing you may be offered a sword and told you are about to enter an epic battle, thus joining in on the climactic sequence in a live performance piece. If you’re hanging out near the bathroom you may be invited into a slinky race down the stairs of The Rickshaw Theatre. Maybe you’ll be enveloped in a giant mass of floating balloons and begin popping them to the beat of the music without any invite at all. Regardless of how or what, the reason why Caturday is such a healthy community is because of you. Why else would anyone commit their time and resources to a non profit group that throws events?
Now let’s ask the OG’s, the devoted cat herders that captain this pirate ship, what inspired them to dedicate themselves to a non-profit crew that throws elaborate parties.
Co-founder Tyson says:
There’s something satisfying that comes with seeing people have an amazing time at the events you put on that is just unsurpassed by anything I have experienced. I really don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon either. It may look like a lot of work from an outsider perspective, but there’s nothing I would rather be doing. I’m excited every day I get to work on projects with the crew.
I put so much effort into this to give back to the people and community that has changed me so much. I just love doing this; I love managing events, I love working on art, I love doing stage lighting – I just love it all! It’s amazing seeing ideas you and your friends have come to life and be so well received and positively impacting. If you’re not sure what that feels like, come join caturday and try it out.
And Gabe, The Man With Many Hats says:
My reason for continuing to stay involved is rooted in the growth that I have experienced by being involved and helping to create various portions of the Caturday community, events, and experience. But it goes beyond just the personal growth I’ve experienced; I’ve seen the people around me grow into more complete, loving, empathetic, and understanding beings as they have had the support of the community, and the sense of self purpose that being involved in a co-created project starts to nurture. As new people have joined, experienced the events, gotten involved or even taken on larger roles within the community, I have seen them grow and prosper and to know that I have had even a small impact on that growth through my involvement in Caturday gives me the sense of self purpose I need to stay involved.
For me, the community that gets created by the events and multitudes of people working together to co-create these artistic experiences and various other projects (GLO Squad, Caturday College) and the ever evolving scope of what Caturday does is the TRUE reason why I stay involved. The events are fun, but the friendships that are made throughout the process, the countless hours spent working on projects that are separated from the ego, really just nurtures my soul. My ultimate goal in life has been “To positively impact as many people as I can during my time on this planet”, and Caturday is helping me do that.
In conclusion, Caturday is not directly solving world hunger, lobbying against a corrupt government whose weakness is the financial power of sociopathic mega corporations, and they’re not directly fighting for the state of our environment. But what I’ve seen Caturday do is throw fundraiser parties for non-profits, give people the opportunity to express themselves through involvement, host workshops as well as activist meetings, and express a focus on a safe and respectful environment in which everyone is treated as an equal. I have never – and I have done a lot of things, I have never ever seen such an array of accepted friends. Not a group so large and supportive. And the more we get together the happier we’ll be.
What do you think?
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