Eurofurence

Eurofurence (commonly abbreviated EF) is a furry convention held in changing places in Europe every year (in Berlin, Germany since 2014 and will remain there for the time being). It was originally started in 1995 as a private gathering by nineteen European furry fans who met on the Internet. Attendance has been steadily rising since then, to 2804 at Eurofurence 23 (held in 2017), making it the largest furry convention outside the United States. The name of the convention derives from its American back-then-counterpart ConFurence, emphasising the European nature of the gathering.

Eurofurence
Status	active
Genre	Furry
Begins	19 August 2020
Ends	23 August 2020
Frequency	annually
Venue	Estrel Hotel
Location(s)	Berlin, Germany
Coordinates	52°28′25″N 13°27′33″E
Country	Germany
Inaugurated	30 June 1995
Attendance	3419 (Eurofurence 25)
Organised by	Eurofurence e.V.
Website	www.eurofurence.org

Since the year 2000, Eurofurence is no longer organized by individual persons but rather by the German Verein Eurofurence e.V., which serves as an administrative body for the convention.

Contrary to most American furry conventions, Eurofurence traditionally took place at youth hostels. In 2007, Eurofurence was first held at a hotel (the Hotel Ringberg in Suhl).

Locations, Themes, and Guests of Honour

Fursuiters at Eurofurence 2014

Below is a table of statistics regarding each year Eurofurence has been held. Since 1999 (possibly except for 6 and 9), the convention has had at least one guest of honour yearly. Since 2002, the convention has had a "theme" every year, with T-shirt designs and venue "dressing" to reflect the theme.

Convention	Dates	Location	Theme	Guest(s) of Honour
Eurofurence 1	30 June–3 July 1995	Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany	N/A	N/A
Eurofurence 2	18–22 July 1996	Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden
Eurofurence 3	21–24 August 1997	Bodstedt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany[1]
Eurofurence 4	1–5 August 1998	Heeze, North Brabant, Netherlands
Eurofurence 5	22–25 July 1999	Berlin, Germany		Lisanne Norman, author of the Sholan Alliance series of books
Eurofurence 6	10–13 August 2000	Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany		Unknown
Eurofurence 7	22–25 July 2001	Kirchen (Sieg), Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany		Lisanne Norman; Lee "Chairo" Strom, Fursuiter, Puppeteer, and member of the Further Confusion organising team since 2003; Mark Merlino, co-founder of ConFurence, the original Furry Convention
Eurofurence 8	15–18 August 2002	Oberbernhards, Hesse, Germany	The F.I.A. (Furry Intelligence Agency)	Dr Samuel "Uncle Kage" Conway, Chairman of Anthrocon
Eurofurence 9	21–24 August 2003	Samopše, Středočeský kraj, Czech Republic	Cunning Little Vixens	Unknown
Eurofurence 10[lower-alpha 1]	26–29 August 2004	Olpe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany	EFX : The Movie	Timothy Albee, Creator of Kaze: Ghost Warrior
Eurofurence XI	21–24 July 2005	Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany	Songs of the Old Ages	Heather Alexander, Celtic Folk/World Rock Musician
Eurofurence 12	23–27 August 2006		The Hounds of Blackwhite Castle	Dark Natasha, furry artist, winner of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration at the Ursa Major Awards in 2002
Eurofurence 13	5–9 September 2007	Suhl, Thuringia, Germany[2][3][4]	The Unlucky Thirteen	Lance Ikegawa, costume designer and Steve Gallacci, Creator of Albedo.[lower-alpha 2] Alexander James Adams appeared as musical guest.[5]
Eurofurence 14	27–31 August 2008		From Dusk till Dawn	Watts Martin, writer and fanzine editor/publisher, and Steve Gallacci.[6]
Eurofurence 15	26–30 August 2009		1001 Arabian Nights	Jimmy Chin, furry artist and fursuiter
Eurofurence 16	1–5 September 2010	Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany	Serengeti	Stan Sakai, comic author, creator of Usagi Yojimbo
Eurofurence 17	17–21 August 2011		Kung Fur Hustle	Jim Martin, a distinguished Puppeteer
Eurofurence 18	29 August–2 September 2012		Animalia Romana	Peter S. Beagle, novel and fantasy fiction author, creator of The Last Unicorn[7]
Eurofurence 19	21–25 August 2013		Aloha Hawaii!	Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Andy Heath and Iestyn Evans from the BBC comedy "Mongrels"[8]
Eurofurence 20	20–24 August 2014	Berlin, Germany	CSI Berlin[9]	Kyell Gold, Ursula Vernon, Sofawolf Press and Sardyuon[10]
Eurofurence 21	19–23 August 2015		Greenhouse World[11]	Rhubarb the Bear and Cosmik[12]
Eurofurence 22	17–21 August 2016		Back to the 80s[13]	Dorothy Hearst,[14] Author of The Wolf Chronicles book trilogy
Eurofurence 23	16–20 August 2017		Ancient Egypt[15]	Pepper Coyote (Musician) and Clockwork Creature (costume and design studio)[16]
Eurofurence 24	22–26 August 2018		Aviators - Conquer the Sky[17]	Joaquin Baldwin (Animator, photographer)[18]
Eurofurence 25	14–18 August 2019		Fractures in Time[19]	Claudya 'AlectorFencer' Schmidt,[20] Author of Myre
Eurofurence 26	Cancelled[21] (Originally 19–23 August 2020)		Welcome to Tortuga[22]	N/A

1. commonly called EFX by the organisation committee
2. Steve Gallacci was unable to attend the convention due to family matters.

Main events

• Pawpet show - Furry handpuppet story with custom plot, music and effects
• Enter the Arena - Fursuit dance contest
• Big Blue Dance - Disco with live DJ, light effects and live mixed background animations
• Group Photo
• Fursuit parade
• Art Auction - Bidding for art
• Dealers' Den - Possibility to sell/buy merchandise and art
• DDR Tournament

References

1. Staff writer (23 August 1997). "Internet-Fans treffen sich in Bodstedt". Ostsee-Zeitung (in German).
2. Frank Hommel (8 September 2007). "Mit 'nem Tiger im Fahrstuhl". Freies Wort (in German). p. 2. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009.
3. Heike Hüchtemann (8 September 2007). "Rollenspiele abseits des wirklichen Lebens". Freies Wort (in German). p. 13. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009.
4. Staff writer (8 September 2007). "Eine Welt für sich". Thüringer Allgemeine (in German).
5. Conference Guests page (2007).
6. Conference Guests page (2008).
7. Guest of Honor (2012).
8. Guests of Honor (2013)
9. [email protected]. "Eurofurence 20 - Crime Scene Berlin - Aug. 20. - 24., 2014". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
10. [email protected]. "Guests of Honor". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
11. [email protected]. "Eurofurence 21 - Greenhouse World (Aug. 19 - 23, 2015)". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
12. [email protected]. "Our Guests of Honor - Eurofurence 21". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
13. [email protected]. "Eurofurence 22 - Back to the 80s". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
14. [email protected]. "Guests of Honor - Eurofurence 22". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
15. [email protected]. "Eurofurence 23 - Ancient Egypt". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
16. [email protected]. "Guests of Honor - Eurofurence 23". www.eurofurence.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
17. [email protected]. "Eurofurence 24 »Aviators - Conquer the Sky!«". Eurofurence 24 - Aviators - Conquer the Sky!. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
18. [email protected]. "Guest of Honor: Joaquin Baldwin". Eurofurence 24 - Aviators - Conquer the Sky!. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
19. [email protected]. "Welcome". Eurofurence 25 - Fractures In Time. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
20. [email protected]. "EF25 Hella Lots to Talk About!". Eurofurence 25 Schedule. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
21. @Eurofurence (30 April 2020). "Friends, it is with deep regret that we must announce the cancellation of Eurofurence for 2020. We did not come to this decision lightly: the safety of our attendees, staff, hotel personnel and many others is paramount..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. [email protected]. "Welcome". Eurofurence 26 - Welcome to Tortuga. Retrieved 24 August 2019.

External links

• Official website