There have been quite a number of people who have always wondered what it would be like, to be surrounded by a large crowd of people, dressing up as their own furry (anthropomorphic animal) characters! For many of us, it's a lot of what you would expect and some things you may not expect! After spending a whole weekend with my girlfriend, dressing up as furries for the first time at a large public event, I thought I'd share my experiences of the event and answer some questions about the furry community in general and what happened with them during this event!
So, let's begin our journey shall we?
Day 1: Friday
Being the opening day, there was quite a crowd to be gathered, around 200 people at the start around 1pm! What I found interesting was that about 35% of the people there were carrying their fursuit parts, almost as they were analyzing other fursuiters to see how people would respond to those wearing their fursuits already. Keep in mind that the majority of the furry community either tends to be socially awkward or so socially outgoing that they'll talk to you forever!
From what I understand with the people my girlfriend and I met, they're all super friendly and each of them come with different personality traits! A few of them, were super quiet but overly joyful when we came around to ask for their pictures! A few of them, were so outgoing that they were open to hugs, high-fives, willing to pick you up with consent or just dance with you there! And a few of them, are simply ok with being playful such as playing tag, making fake snow angels on the ground and making poses for fun!
Overall, it was a lot of fun, seeing all of the fursuit vendors avaliable to shop at and to see how expressive people in fursuits can be!
(P.S: I got to play a real life version of "Among Us" with other fursuiters and I was the first to get killed by the killer but it was really fun nonetheless!)
Furry Facts I've analyzed:
1) Regarding the vendors I've met, 75% of the contents included T-Shirts, Pins, Badges and unique artwork made by each individual artist! 15% of the contents were ready-to-wear fursuits parts/full suits in case you wanted to participate! And the last 10% included sexual and kinky items like harnesses, anthro hentai, sexy body pillows and...something I'd rather not mention here!
2) If you wondered whether this furry convention had rooms for 18+ adults, indeed there were after 9pm! I know furries have been generalized for being overly sexual with their suits and there is some truth to it but only of a minority. Otherwise, most of them are kid-friendly and very welcoming to those around them!
Day 2: Saturday
My girlfriend and I were very familiar with the atmosphere of this furry convention and honestly, we couldn't wait to come back for Round 2! A larger crowd came today (roughly around 400 people) and more events were taking place including a dance party, a maid cafe, a board game/video game room and photo shoots! It was very interesting when I kept going around asking if I could take photos of people wearing their fursuits! This is where I started to realize that people were very open to information that they would never usually admit to people in general.
Some admitted to being gay/lesbian, a few have said they attended the event to seek attention/validation from others and one specific individual said they were hoping to find love here. It was wonderful seeing people like this, not afraid of speaking their mind about how they feel, when society may consider them awkward otherwise. It was so funny later in the afternoon when my girlfriend told me that I unintentionally attracted a few gay men to play board games with us, based on the way I acted around them! You'll never know what may happen at a furry convention at times!
Furry Facts I've analyzed:
1) I've never met a community that was so open-minded and accepting to everyone around them, regardless of how others treat them. Whenever I saw someone feeling down at the convention, one or several fursuiters would come to aid them! Personal topics could be openly expressed without any fear of judgment, based on who I was with. Many of these fursuiters that suffered through hardships have a lot of empathy to share, including one I met who's parents shamed him for dressing up thinking he was freak when he's really a sweet guy!
2) From what I calculated, 65% of fursuiters were men and 95% of vendors were women! Seems like more men like dressing up while more women love to express their creative side with their crafts and artwork!
Day 3: Sunday
It was sad knowing the event was coming to a close but even then, it didn't shy away from a grand finale! There was a party room filled with lots of food and desserts (Which I sadly missed)! This also included a large photo gathering of over 100 fursuiters and a finale with a parade at the end which I'll link before. You can find me at the 1:01 mark as the Blue Dutch Angel Dragon!
My girlfriend and I got to play some final board games with other fursuiters before everyone started to pack up! I'm not going to lie, but there were a lot of items we both bought but we don't regret it considering this was our first Fur Con ever! I'm sure going to miss this event but thankfully there will be more in the near future!
Furry Facts I've Analyzed:
1) It's hilarious what happens when you put a bunch of furries on one giant dance floor! You'll see break dancing, furries bundling up in a tight circle, some pretending they are making a rap video, a couple of them doing staring contests and even one who was deep in mediating! Talk about variety for what you can do here!
2) Looks can be deceiving when it comes to heat tolerance! Fursuiters including myself, may appear to be enjoying the moment in those photo shoots, however there are many layers on a fursuit, including foam and fleece, which prevents a lot of air flow from coming into our suits, which may make us sweat! Be sure to take breaks every 15 minutes whenever possible unless you can handle heat tolerance like a boss!
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Final Opinion:
For this being a first time experience at a fur con, I was having way too much fun, although I wish there were more activities to do! To be fair though, Covid-19 has been wondering around so there's limitations to what was allowed in the convention. People there were very nice, there was a wide enough variety of activities to keep you occupied and there was something unique for each day to keep drawing you back in! Even though the age group for this event is recommended for 13+, I believe being 18+ would make this much more enjoyable, given the average age group for these events varies between 21-38 year olds! If you're into the fandom, it's worth a try! Otherwise, you might cringe at what you see here 😉
Overall Experience: 9/10
If you have any questions regarding this event or the furry community in general, let me know! Otherwise, I hope to see you all around on here soon! I'll add a few more pictures on here just so you can see who we met! 😊
P.S: Girlsaskguys wanted to auto-place this in the "Sexuality" section! You got to love it! 😂
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