Inventing a holiday is a bold and radical act—it’s a way of reclaiming time, reallocating intentions, reconfiguring expectations. Why spend your day doing average, ordinary things—or worse, doomscrolling—when you can just change the day to be a celebration of something you love? Who says you can’t?
When my sister sent me one of my cat-loving niece’s recent drawings, it occurred to me that my niece, Penny, had done just that. Her love of cats was just so powerful it simply needed its own day—Prr Day.
I was reminded of a story from a few years ago, when a 7-year-old in New Zealand invented a holiday called “Wolfenoot.” According to his mom, Wolfenoot is a time when “the spirit of the wolf brings and hides gifts around the house for everyone.” Those gifts are apparently better for “people who have, have had, or are kind to dogs.” Also on this day—November 23rd—”you eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon.”
Inspired, I decided to call Penny for an interview about Prr Day: What is Prr Day? Who celebrates it? What do people (or cats) do on Prr Day? What are the traditional foods and activities? Penny shared the details in the stats section below.
Here’s hoping Prr Day inspires you to celebrate the things you love, and maybe even make a holiday out of them. And, if you decide to celebrate Prr Day this Sunday, may your kitties look like chickens, and may all your kitties purr.
Courtesy Elliott/Adler family
Prr Day Stats and Facts, According to Penny, Who Invented the Holiday
Date: Celebrated every Sunday, and originally founded on Sunday, March 20th, 2022
Details: Prr day is a day “when the kitties get to do whatever they want. But not any bad stuff. People try to get kitties to purr.”
Traditional observants: “I can, everybody, people, and kitties.”
Traditional foods: You make a “kitty gingerbread house but only people get to eat it.”
Traditional activities and events: “You can dress kitties to look like other animals, like chickens, and other wildlife. But you don’t have to. Our two kitties already look like tigers.”
“My favorite part [of Prr Day] is going on a nature walk, at zoos, in the forest. You take lots of walks to look for big cats, like tigers, and cheetahs. They eat people but won’t eat you if you’re looking for them.”
The meaning of Prr Day: “It means all the cats are so special, forever! Even when they’re dead.” (When I repeated this back to Penny, I said, “So it’s a special day to celebrate cats?” She replied, “Yes,” and then emphasized, “even when they’re dead.”)
How Penny’s Prr Day was going when I called her: “We’re playing with the kitties, and they’ve been purring all day.”
Courtesy Elliott/Adler family