Nottatown EventsCommunity calendar · Nottatown, NC

The Nottatown Cat Worship Festival is a harvest festival honoring barn cats, held in Nottatown, North Carolina, on the third Saturday of every October. The festival has been held every October since 1855 and is one of the oldest continuous cat festivals in the United States. It is organized by the Nottatown Festival Committee and sponsored by Nottatown Roofing.

Third Saturday of October · Since 1855

Nottatown Cat Worship Festival

Honoring the barn cats since 1855

The festival takes place on the Nott Granary green and in the Nottatown Grange Hall. Admission is free, and Harvest Supper plates cost $12.

Saturday, October 17, 2026
  • Free admission
  • Supper plates $12
  • Nott Granary green & Grange Hall
Schedule of the day Full calendar
Visitors holding barn cats on the Nott Granary green at the 2025 Nottatown Cat Worship Festival, with the Hay Bale Temple and the Great Saucer behind them
October17Saturday2026

Schedule of the day dawn to dusk

  1. DawnThe Granary Blessing

    The oldest resident knocks three times on the Nott Granary door and reads the names of the 1854 granary cats.

  2. Early morningFilling the Great Saucer

    Fresh milk is poured into the six-foot cast-iron saucer, made for the festival in 1901, on the town green.

  3. MorningParade of Barn Cats

    Farm families carry their cats down Nott’s Mill Road in decorated baskets, wagons, and wheelbarrows.

  4. Late morningCrowning of the Mouser Laureate

    The year’s best barn cat is crowned with a small woven straw crown. The first Mouser Laureate was crowned in 1926.

  5. NoonThe Whisker Hymn

    The short hymn Reverend Amos Tuttle wrote in 1856, sung together at noon.

  6. AfternoonThe Yarn Toss

    Children throw balls of yarn at a hay-bale target shaped like a rat.

  7. All dayHay Bale Temple

    A shrine built from about 200 hay bales, topped with a wooden cat carved in 1934.

  8. DuskHarvest Supper

    In the Grange Hall: chicken and dumplings, sweet potato pie, and granary bread. Plates are $12.

🎒 What to bring

  • A folding chair or blanket for the green
  • Layers: dawn in October is chilly, afternoons can be warm
  • Cash for Harvest Supper plates ($12)
  • Your barn cat, if it is joining the parade, in a secure basket, carrier, or wagon
  • Comfortable shoes for the grass and gravel
  • A flashlight for walking back after the Harvest Supper

🚗 Getting here & parking

Nottatown is in Caswell County, where Nott’s Mill Road meets Old Granary Road. Park along Nott’s Mill Road and walk to the Nott Granary green. Please follow volunteers’ directions and keep the road clear during the Parade of Barn Cats.

Admission is free.

A little history the town the cats saved

In the winter of 1853–54, known in Nottatown as the Rat Winter, rats destroyed stored grain on nearly every farm. Early in 1854 families put more than 60 barn cats inside the Nott Granary. The cats cleared out the rats and saved the seed corn, and the 1854 harvest was the best in years.

In October 1855 Reverend Amos Tuttle held a harvest thanksgiving to honor the granary cats. It is counted as the first Nottatown Cat Worship Festival. In 1956 the festival set its attendance record of about 11,000 visitors. Today it draws about 400 to 600.

Read the town history at nottatown.com

Festival milestones

  • 1855First harvest thanksgiving for the granary cats
  • 1859The name “Cat Worship” first appears; Nottatown adopts it on purpose
  • 1901The Great Saucer is cast
  • 1926The first Mouser Laureate is crowned
  • 1956Record attendance of about 11,000 visitors
  • 2011Volunteers restore the Nott Granary; Nottatown Roofing donates a new roof