Final farewell as Kirkcaldy’s much loved giant cats gather in Town Square

The 17 Wemyss Ware Cats have welcomed tens of thousands of people who have followed their trail around the Long Toun, Burntisland, Kinghorn and Auchtertool this summer.

The biggest ever public art trail was created by the Adam Smith Global Foundation and backed by the Kirkcaldy Lottery - and now they are set to find new homes after going under the hammer.

The auction at the Adam Smith Theatre forms part of a full day of activity across the Lang Toun to mark the end of the hugely successful project.

The cats arrived in the Town Square on Wednesday and will set up to let fans grab one last picture ahead of the auction. It will be the only time all the cats will be together. Sixteen of the fantastic sculptures are in place, and Sweetie - the travelling cat designed by Robet Mach - is expected to join them on Friday.

On Saturday all the artists will be in the Town Square along with their magical moggie creations before heading to the theatre for the auction. Tickets for that event are selling fast and potential bidders are being asked to arrive early so that they can fill out their registration form and receive a paddle to get the attention of the auctioneer.

It has been a huge logistical operation getting all the cats together, and all eyes will now focus on how much money they go for.

One group, the Friends of Kirkcaldy Galleries, has already raised over £5000 in its bid to win the Galle Cat, designed by Griselda Hill, and keep it as the figurehead outside the building at the War Memorial Gardens.

But it will have to outbid any other individuals or groups who want to own it!

How much the cats go for is something of an unknown quantity - initially it was thought bids of £5000 would be an entry point, but their popularity could see that figure rise, with all monies going back to Kirkcaldy Lottery to fund other projects.

> The Cats

In the Town Square you can meet the artists and see the cats from 1:00pm to 1:45pm on Saturday.

They are: Roseanne Hoy (Thistle Cat), Hazel Terry (Poppie’s Lino Cat in Green), Abigail Cooper (Women’s Wark Will Ne’er Be Dune), Doorthy Black (Pineapple Botanical), Donna Forrester (Kirkcaldy Lynx), Griselda Hill (Galle Cat), Rachel Devine (Fun Guy), Lisa Graef (Show Cat), Susan Warner (Asparagus Misfit The Theatre Cat), Susan McGill (A Queer-Like Cat), Yolanda Kenny (Dysart Cat), Vanessa Gibson (The Love Cat), Lauren Morsley (Wildflower), Paul McGinty (Pit Cat), Johanna Scott (Lino), Elaine Syme (Cabbage Rose), and Robert Mach (Sweetie).

> The auction

The auction at the Adam Smith Theatre is open to anyone to attend at a cost of just £5 per ticket and includes a complimentary Wemyss Ware Cat Trail souvenir programme and auction guide.

The auction has 21 lots in total.

In addition to the 17 uniquely decorated cats there are four special lots: a programme signed by all 17 artists, a special ceramic Love Kirkcaldy Cat made by the Griselda Hill Pottery, a one-off ceramic Wally Cat by Susan McGill, and also the Contingency Cat – a blank undecorated giant cat that was a reserve for the project but never used.

The auction starts at 2:00pm … and the organisers have hinted at a surprise cat finale!

> Day of events and activities

There’s a lot going on across the town to mark the end of the cat trail.

Every One Every Day is hosting free events at its base in the Mercat Shopping Centre.

At 10:00am it is running cat-themed crafts for all the family. That is followed by a ‘How To Be An Auctioneer’ workshop led by a professional auctioneer from Bonhams. It takes place from 11.30am to midday. There is also feline face painting by Hazel Terry from 10am to 12.30pm.

> The auction

The auction will be conducted by Bonhams Fine Art auctioneers - one of the most respected names in the business.

Pounded in London in 1793, it is the only remaining international auction house that is still privately owned and in British hands. It holds hundreds of specialist sales around the world each year.

The Wemyss Ware Cat Trail auction will be led by Hamish Wilson, senior valuer at Bonhams, Edinburgh.

> The cat trail

The Wemyss Ware Cat Trail was over 12 months in planning and was publicly announced in October 2025. There was an artists competition in December 2025 with over 40 entries, and the trail of 17 cats was launched in April 2026.

Gordon Povey, chief executive at the Adam Smith Global Foundation led the project, and worked tirelessly to get the cats in place across the district. Her also took Sweetie on its travels to pieces such as Pittenweem Arts Festival and even Edinburgh’s city centre bus station.

He said: ““Our Wemyss Ware Cat Trail was different to most other sculpture trails.

“It has been community-led from the outset, the concept and the delivery has all been achieved with local partners. Local input was central to our mission; we are a small team and a small town, and it would have been easier to have contracted the project out to a professional art trail provider – but this would have missed the whole point.

“All of our artists and contractors, suppliers and sponsors are from the local area. The cats have attracted tens of thousands of visitors over its 18-week duration and we believe that our local communities have benefited significantly from the project, both socially and economically.

“We are hugely grateful to all of our sponsors and supporters for helping us deliver this project, and I would like to say a massive thank you to the people of Kirkcaldy, and all our cat trail visitors, for looking after our cats and treating them with such love and respect.

“It will be sad to see them go, but the auction proceeds will enable us to deliver more great projects in the Kirkcaldy area.”