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This is a comprehensive list of furry conventions: formal gatherings of members of the furry fandom.
[edit] North America
A fursuiter hosts the
Iron Artist competition at Further Confusion 2002
- Anthrocon (website) - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Founded in 1997 in Albany, New York, Anthrocon is currently the largest furry convention in the world, with 2,849 attendees in 2007. Held in Philadelphia for most of its life, it moved to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh in June 2006.
- Further Confusion (website) - San Jose, California, USA
- Held in the San Francisco Bay Area since January 1999, the convention drew 691 attendees in its first year, a result attributed in part to the rescheduling of ConFurence from January to April that year. 2,423 members attended the convention in 2008.
- Midwest FurFest (website) - Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
- Previously a part of Duckon's furry track, which started in 1993, Midwest FurFest was created in 2000 when the furry programming began to overshadow the convention's science fiction roots. In 2006 there were 1,422 attendees, an increase of 33% over the previous year, while 2007 attracted 1,690.[1]
- Furry Weekend Atlanta (website) - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- A furry equivalent of the region's Anime Weekend Atlanta, this convention was set up in 2004 and has since grown to serve 1,046 fans in February 2008.
- Mephit Furmeet (website) - Memphis, Tennessee, USA
- Operated since by the Mid-South and Tennessee Anthropomorphic Arts Association since 1997, this Labor Day weekend event drew 630 furry fans in 2007.
- FurFright (website) - Waterbury, Connecticut, USA
- A Halloween-themed furry convention which drew 717 participants in October 2007.
- Califur and Califur Diego (website) - Irvine, California/San Diego, California, USA
- Founded in 2004 as a replacement for Southern California's ConFurence, Califur attracted a following of 587 in 2008. The same organization holds the Califur Diego furry artist reception at Comic-Con International, replacing CritterConDiego (see below).
- Megaplex (website) - Jacksonville, Florida, USA
- A performing arts themed convention with a primary focus on fantasy and anthropomorphics, Megaplex programming has a focus on fursuiting, puppetry, improvisation and other types of performance. It is operated by Pawpet Live Experiences, and attracted 387 attendees in 2005, although this decreased over the next two years to 185. A rebound to 255 occurred in 2008.
- Furry Connection North (website, WikiFur) - Ann Arbor, Michigan
- The first dedicated furry convention in Michigan took place April 11-13, 2008, with an attendance of 372.
- RainFurrest (website) - SeaTac, Washington, USA.
- One of two conventions in the Pacific Northwest seeking to fill the gap left by Conifur Northwest when it shut down. Its first run was August 24-26, 2007, which attracted 370 attendees.
- Rocket City FurMeet (website) - Huntsville, Alabama, USA
- Known for its abundance of food, Rocket City FurMeet has been running over Memorial Day weekend since 2003, hosting 332 members in 2007.
- Rocky Mountain Fur Con (website) - Denver, Colorado, USA
- Attracted 319 attendees in 2008; opened in 2007 with a furry cooking show and a fursuit parade route that passed through the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.
- Fur Affinity: United (website) - Newark, New Jersey, USA
- Sharing the name of popular furry art site Fur Affinity, this convention's first instance in August 2007 drew 310 attendees. Events included a live rock concert.
- Morphicon (website) - Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Midwest convention held over early May. 245 attended in 2007.
- Furloween (website) - Orlando, Florida, USA
- This one-day convention/party has run yearly since 1999, typically on the Saturday before Halloween.
- All Fur Fun (website) - Spokane, Washington, USA
- One of two conventions seeking to replace Conifur Northwest after its cancellation. 165 people attended All Fur Fun in 2008, a 50% increase on its initial year.
- Camp Feral! (website) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
- Held in the forests of Ontario since 1998, this camping trip does not follow the standard convention programming, instead focusing on watersports, campfire tales, climbing, songwriting and other craft activities. 132 furry fans attended in September 2006, but this number fell to around 80 in 2007 when the event was extended to a week.
- Oklacon (website) - Watonga, Oklahoma, USA
- Another camping convention, held in Roman Nose State Park over Halloween, basic lodging and some meals are included in the registration fee. 128 attended in 2006.
- Howloween (website) - Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
- A traditionally small Halloween furmeet hosted just north of the U.S./Canada border and to the east of Vancouver, this event received a boost in attendance in 2006 after the cancellation of Conifur Northwest.
- Anthrofest (website) - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- A convention held for the mixed English and French-speaking population of Canada; around 100 showed up for the 2006 premier, and 111 in 2007.[2]
- Western PA Furry Weekend (website) - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Created from a regular bi-annual event in response to the movement of Anthrocon to Pittsburgh. 92 attended in 2007.
- Furthest North - Deer Creek Provincial Recreation Area, Alberta, Canada
- A midwest Canadian camping con close to the US border, held bi-annually. 49 campers in Summer 2007.
[edit] Rest of the world
Fans may commission many
con badges to identify themselves, although few display this many
- Eurofurence (website) - Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
- Founded in 1995, this European convention has been held in Germany for ten of its thirteen years - other countries are Sweden, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. Managed by Eurofurence e.V., it hosted 585 attendees in September 2007.[3]
- RBW UK (website) - London, England
- RBW is the biggest furry event in the UK, and second largest in Europe. It sold 242 tickets for the 2007 event. RBW started in 2006 as a boat party, then in 2007 it became a 2 day convention. For 2008 they move to their new venue, the Royal National Hotel.
- Mephit Mini Con (website) - Freusburg, Kirchen, Germany
- The Mephit Mini Con, held in Germany around Labour Day, has acted as the second largest European furry convention since 1998, with attendance growing from a quarter of Eurofurence's in its founding year to almost half (200) in May 2006. It shares some equipment with Eurofurence, but is separately organized as FurCon e.V.
- とらんすふぁ [TransFur] (website) - Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
- The first furry convention in Japan, TransFur has been held twice a year since May 2005. 180 attended in December 2007.
- РусФуренция [Rusfurrence] (website) - Moscow, Russian Federation
- This Russian convention has been limited by the relative difficulty of transportation due to the size of the country. First held in 2001, it recorded 106 attendees in 2007.
- MiDFur (website) - Melbourne, Australia
- The annual Melbourne in December Fur Meet has occurred over an extended weekend since 1999.
- ČeSFuR (website) - Ledeč nad Sázavou, Vysočina Region, Czech Republic
- Attracts both Czech and Slovak furries, as well as a few visitors from other European states; 74 attended in March 2008.
- H-Con (website) - Frankfurt/Heidelberg, Germany
- A four-day convention held in the country. Next takes place in October 2007, with a maximum of 50 guests.
- BerliCon (website) - Berlin, Germany
- A small convention held annually around June since 2004. Attracted 35 in 2007.
- FranFurence (website) - Chambord, Haute-Normandie, France
- A convention attracting mostly French locals, held in 2003, 2004 and 2006 in various château in the North of France.
- HerbstCon (website) - Fulda, Hesse, Germany
- A biannual furmeet/convention with few formal planned events. Hosts the annual meeting of Eurofurence e.V. Attendance is by invitation only.
- Zillercon - Mayrhofen, Tyrol, Austria
- A furry skiing and snowboarding holiday, named for its first location, Zillertal, Austria. It has been held yearly since 2001 during January/February at various places in Austria and Switzerland. 2007's event is already fully-booked.[4]
- Abando (website) - São Roque, Brazil
- Abando is a privately held convention held near São Paulo with a program including workshops and camping. It was first held in February 2008, with 15 attendees.
[edit] Discontinued events
- ConFurence (current details - convention archive) - Burbank, California, USA
- ConFurence was the first furry convention, and remains the longest-running as of 2006, with an unbroken span of fifteen years. Formed in 1989, it peaked at around 1,250 attendees in 1998, but suffered a decline in later years. The last ConFurence attracted 470 attendees in 2003.
- Conifur Northwest - SeaTac, Washington, USA
- The main furry convention for the Pacific Northwest since 1998, Conifur was cancelled in 2006 after its prior hotel was demolished in preparation for the Link Light Rail station at SeaTac Airport. The convention had its highest attendance in 2005, at 525 attendees. Conifur has been replaced by All Fur Fun in Spokane, and RainFurrest in the Seattle area.
- Furtasticon/ConFurence East/MoreFurCon - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1994), Newark, New Jersey (1995), Cleveland, Ohio (1996)
- The first attempts at establishing a US east coast or midwest furry convention started with Furtasticon, an event which attracted from 230 to 300 participants in November 1994, many from Philcon.[5] Later events were held in Newark for 1995 and Cleveland for 1996 under the name ConFurence East, the latter attracting at least 500 people. An alternate name for these conventions is MoreFurCon, the intended name of the 1997/1998 convention prior to its cancellation. Due to the timing of the cancellation, this convention was ultimately replaced by Anthrocon.
- CritterConDiego (website) - San Diego, California, USA
- Organized by the ConFurence Group, this "relaxacon" was held from 2000 to 2002 on the same weekends as Comic-Con International. It was replaced by Califur Diego after the demise of ConFurence in 2003. Notable for its free entry for fursuiters, attendance peaked at 240 in 2001.
- C-ACE (website) - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Formed in 2002 as the Canadian Anthro and Cartooning Expo, changed in 2003 as the Canadian Arts and Cartooning Expo, and since 2004 as simply "C-ACE", this convention's official focus was on creative learning in art, writing, costuming and other things, open to all fandoms, as opposed to strictly all-around anthropomorphics, although a significant proportion of its attendees and staff were members of the furry fandom. It was run by the Capital Anthropomorphics in Cartooning Group, and drew 224 attendees at its peak in 2005. It went into hiatus as a full-fledged convention after the 2007 event, which attracted 127.
- Furry Spring Break (website) - Orlando, Florida, USA
- A predecessor to (Pawpet) Megaplex, this 2001 convention was unable to find a hotel in 2002. It attracted 150 participants.
- Texas Furry Con (archived website) - Austin, Texas, USA
- Only on for 2004, this convention featured a real-life meeting of members of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Furcadia.
- ZonieCon (website) - Tucson, Arizona, USA
- This convention had a small but regular following over its four years of operation, peaking at 57 attendees in 2001.
- Furry Cruise (website) - Majesty of the Seas sailing out of Miami, Florida
- The only furry convention held on a cruise ship. Held in 2005 with 37 attendees and in December 2006 with 40 attendees, it was placed on hiatus for 2007.
[edit] Future conventions
- These conventions have been announced but have not yet occurred.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
