BOWMANVILLE — Last month, thousands of people gathered for the city’s first cat tour, where neighbors strolled through the Lincoln Square neighborhood while meeting residential cats in windows, porches and yards.

The Lincoln Square Cat Tour’s debut was such a success, organizers are hosting a Halloween-themed edition in Bowmanville next month.

The Bowmanville Cat Tour will be Saturday, Oct. 10. It’s free to attend and open to the public. There will be cat-themed activities and a post-tour block party. People — and cats — are encouraged to dress up in cat-themed items and costumes.

Bowmanville residents who have cats can register to get on the tour map through Sunday here.

The inaugural Lincoln Square Cat Tour featured 120 cats. So far, the Bowmanville tour has over 40 cats registered, organizers and Lincoln Square residents Christine Blevins and Kalin Webber told Block Club.

Some of those cats include Professor Meatloaf, a shorthaired calico kitty who is “delightfully neurodivergent, super cuddly and an all-around lover of people”; a sassy tortoiseshell kitty named Mr. Flufflepants; a cuddly gray tabby named Pepper who loves watching the Cubs and birds from her window perch; and Noodle, another tortoiseshell born on Halloween who only responds to being called Big Kitty.

Webber and Blevins, who first posted about hosting a cat tour in May in a Facebook group, thought Bowmanville made for a fitting second location. Not only is Bowmanville part of the larger Lincoln Square community area, but there were also cats that didn’t make the cut last tour because they were outside the official Lincoln Square neighborhood boundaries, they said.

The tour “got people into the neighborhood, seeing the beautiful houses and the architecture … the gardens that people have,” Blevins said. “It’s gorgeous in Bowmanville with the big trees. In October, it’s gonna sing, it’s gonna look so pretty. … I hope that the neighbors don’t mind a bunch of crazy cat people coming through for a couple hours.”

The event is partnering with Touched By An Animal, a Bowmanville-based no-kill animal sanctuary that helps connect people with their pets through adoption, volunteering and sanctuary services. Donations are encouraged.

“They have turned a home into the most ultimate cat sanctuary, and they help to support people that might be in financial distress to maintain their pets,” Blevins said of the nonprofit.

The first cat tour partnered with four nonprofits, including Touched By An Animal. At least three of them raised close to $1,000, Blevins said.

The Bownmanville tour will also partner with local businesses to offer discounts and giveaway items.

To help support the cat tours and keep them going, people can donate to Blevins and Webber through Venmo or Zelle. The two maintain the tour’s website and social media, create graphics and flyers, coordinate volunteers, put together registration forms, review messages and information that gets submitted and more.

Before the first cat tour, Blevins and Webber worried if the traction they got online would translate in real life and whether the event would run smoothly if too many people showed up.

The event ended up being “overwhelming in a great way,” Blevins said. Some attendees wore cat-themed clothing, while some from other neighborhoods even brought their own cats from home.

“People went on the map ahead of time, they found their favorite cats, they planned out which tour they want to join [and] they made sure that they went to see as many cats as they could,” Webber said. “It was like the enthusiasm was through the roof.”

Blevins and Webber estimate over 3,000 people attended the Lincoln Square tour. At the post-tour block party, the entire street was packed for about an hour.

“To pack the whole block with people, it’s a lot. And that was just a small portion of the people who were on all tours,” Blevins said. “And I know the local businesses were busy with people meowing at them [for discounts].”

The duo hopes the cat tours can spread citywide. They’ve already gotten interest from residents in other neighborhoods and suburbs, including Pilsen, Avondale, Hyde Park and Oak Park.

“It’s not just for cat people, so to speak,” Blevins said. “You don’t have to have a cat to come out on the tour, or identify as a cat person. It really is about building community and appreciating the neighborhoods in Chicago and having a really happy, fun, silly day.”

Learn more about the cat tour and contact the organizers on its website here.

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