I’m exhausted. Wiped. Drained. Pooped. Stick a fork in me. I have barely enough in me to write this. I’ve been partying every single weekend this summer, and it’s furry’s fault. Toronto’s furry community has popped off this summer, and I’m incredibly proud (but also eepy). It may have to do with the fact that fewer Canadians are crossing the border, and they’re looking to fill their FOMO from the big US cons that would typically fill a summer schedule and budget.
Please note that this blog covers the events I or close friends were able to attend, and is not a comprehensive list of every single furry event in Southern Ontario. This does not cover fursuit walks, or small scale furmeets, which are also hosted frequently. I can’t remember a summer this busy in my 18 years of being a part of this community. It’s been a good year to be a furry in the greater Toronto area.
Cancelled: Furnal Equinox (Canada), Gateway Furmeet (Missouri), FurDu (Australia), Furry Weekend Atlanta (Georgia).
Postponed: Biggest Little Fur Con (Nevada), Otterdance (Netherlands), Golden State Fur Con (California), Fauntastic (France), Thaitails (Thailand).
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Conventions the world over are cancelling or postponing in every fandom. The COVID-19 (Corona virus) preparation has many in isolation the world over. Travel is becoming more restricted between countries, and preppers are bulk-buying all the toilet paper. These quarantines and lock downs being so wide spread, it’s actually kind of an impressive feat of social engineering that hasn’t caused this much panic since Y2K. The purpose of isolation is to take the place of herd immunity that doesn’t exist for a new virus. Yes, healthy young furs probably won’t get very sick if they catch it, but these proactive measures are to protect the more vulnerable, elderly, and immune-compromised. It’s drastic, but the virus would spread alarmingly fast if we continued attending concerts and conventions.
You can help these conventions by:
Donating your registration to the organization
Sharing the information, store fronts, and art streams of artists and dealers affected by closures and postponements
Donate to the charity of the event
Be patient with event organizers, venue and hotel staff, and workers who cannot take the time off to self-isolate.
In the 90’s, ConFurence was THE convention for all furries worldwide. 26 years after ConFurence 0 broke ground, the subculture has gained enough steam for some local populations to get multiple cons. It’s a sign of a healthy community. Areas or cities like that make great examples to learn from. Do they succeed? What does it say about fan support, and competition or cooperation to grow our awesome fandom?
Five places came to mind:
San Jose, CA (Further Confusion and PAWcon, since 2014)
Columbus, OH (Morphicon and Furlaxation, in 2012-2014)
Toronto (Camp Feral! and Furnal Equinox, since 2010)
Boston, MA (Maltese Fur Con and Anthro New England, in 2014)
Pittsburgh, PA (Anthrocon and Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend)
Healthy growth can bring a downside. Cons are growing large and well-attended enough to have critical security concerns. This month, Oklacon and Rainfurrest both announced dramatic cancelations due to misbehavior. Bad faith can get between organizers and their venues, and that gets bigger than internal fandom drama. However, it’s also natural for problems to grow when a population does. Be optimistic with a con every week, some place in the world.
Consider the hard work it takes to organize a con, and draw people to fly in from far away. Organizing could be a paid profession. Furries are lucky and loveable because theirs come from volunteering. This brings a risk of burnout and decline. It’s important to understand how and why. The decline of ConFurence coincided with the start of Further Confusion, which may have unintentionally divided the pool of supporters. 16 years after ConFurence 10 ended, multi-con locations can show examples for how to sustain what we love.
There’s much more than conventions in the hard-to-measure Furry subculture. They can only draw some members. But they can be considered to lead it’s growth. Con-goers, fursuiters, and fursuiting con-goers may be the most committed members of furry social life. They spend the tourist dollars that float Furry’s best public profile. Anthrocon’s $7 million tourism draw has earned more and more enthusiastic coverage. In 2015, it achieved a new benchmark, with their first public parade that was cheered on by 5,000 regular people of Pittsburgh. This is what the public sees.
Let’s look for insight from organizers. Dogpatch Press sent questions to ten cons in five locations:
