lunacy at the furry convention 

she finally did it guys... a furry convention 😭 peak swell amen

"I'm not a furry, I'm a voyeur." -Amanda, making a lateral move

I totally believe that the furry convention is one of the better run conventions. When your group gets the most harassment from the internet, you need to have the highest standards to avoid further ridicule.

Not a furry, but as a wheelchair user, it sounds more accessible than most events due to the extra space 😂

As the frontman for the Fleabags, thank you so much for coming to our set and mentioning us 🥹

Definitely go to anthrocon. The entire city becomes a furry convention. I went to PA while it was happening by accident and was absolutely fascinated

Furries are some of the truest “patrons” of actual artists in the modern era. Even in an online world where art can be ripped so easily, they seem to heavily value commissioned art and really encourage people of all skill levels.

I made a relatively famous “sexy mascot” that was on the front page of Reddit during the last election. I had a lot of people reaching out asking about commissions, and let me tell you, the amount of money furry’s were ballpark offering absolutely eclipsed the amount legitimate brands were offering me.

I’m an artist and I do occasionally take (SFW) furry commissions. The amount of creativity that goes into these designs are crazy. They also love their characters a lot. I’ll have people send reference sheets who’s art is INFINITELY better than mine, and they’ll still buy commissions from me just because they want said character in different art styles.

As a furry it is such a breath of fresh air to hear our community talked about in a neutral manner from someone who isn't a furry

Free mom hugs was at SF pride, i was wearing a shirt that read "i survived conversion therapy" and one of the lovely people just came up and asked to give me a hug, it was the sweetest interaction and made my day at pride!

it is hard to tell apart minors in fursuits from adults in fursuits because of all the faux fur and foam, so it is a relief to see denfur asking see id cards instead of just checking wristbands.

Free Mom Hugs is the most wholesome organization I've ever heard of. I love it.

furry cons are almost always extremely well organized. When they aren't it is usually very quickly known for it and avoided. I think the rest of the con organizers out there need to take notes

As someone who has an interest in costuming, I find furries and their dedication to the technical skill behind some of their suits utterly FASCINATING. LED Lights, moving jaws and tails, some even have wings. Hell, I've seen videos of a fursuit with speakers in it. A lot of fursuits are walking masterpieces and due to the handicrafted nature of them, no two are truly alike!

I accidentally ended up at a furry meet up in Hokkaido, Japan, like 3 years ago That was genuinely some of the nicest people ever, we took pictures and everything, the costumes were also so creative I am jot a furry and did not become one, but I love the positive vibe that I felt there 💕

Being a furry in this heat? Thats dedication

Never understood the hype behind being a furry but most furries I've ran into have been chill asf

I'm really glad you talked about how furs protect minors in the community. It's easy to say that we have a lot broader of a range of "age appropriateness" than other fandoms so we are very protective of our kiddos.

Heeeeey I'm the cheese Monger from the panel!!! Thank you so so much for coming it means the absolute world to me!! :D

I love that they carded you for 18+ stuff! That's a great way to keep minors safe and preserve their innocence 😊

i too have accidentally dated a furry before, and honestly? one of the more healthy relationships i’ve had in my life

love that they offered ear plugs! more music venues need to do this!

I'm an area leader with Free Mom Hugs Pennsylvania. It's such an amazing organization and I'm so proud to be a part of it! Thank you for featuring our hugger on your video!

from what i have learned about the furry fandom is that a lot of them are queer and/or disabled and that they are super respectful of each other and outsiders. it seems like a great community to be part of and i wish other fandoms would take notes.

This video got spread around the community and the Denfur Group today. Thank you so much for your positivity and openness and please come back for more shenanigans next year! P.s. Wikifur has a whole list of conventions that are regional if you were curious to see what's in your area.

I'm not a furry, but I am a circus performer who has worked the SE US con circuit. This year, I performed for Furry Weekend Atlanta's 18+ Moonlight Festival, and it was my favorite con experience. The staff was so kind, the attendees so generous, and the creativity I got to see was incredible. I have performed at all major ATL cons and multiple out of state ones, but FWA was my favorite!

Dinomasks are definitely a trend fandom-wide! they honestly are a really great way for kids & teens in the fandom to be able to make and wear a character, most people advise against youth going for a fursuit because they're either expensive or a ton of effort on your own, and making one that you'll grow out of at some point would be a frustrating experience.

Trust me, as a fursuit dancer who has been in like a dozen dance comps, it's way different from floor wars. A lot of us are still self taught and it's a ton of fun!

Furry conventions are typically very well run events. And just really damn fun.

i’m a furry and i went to anthrocon this year, it was the largest furry convention in the world with over 13,000 attendees. the fursuit parade alone had over 3,000 fursuiters. it was so much fun and i would love to see you come next year. side note: this is the first video of yours i’ve seen and i love your vibes, thanks for being so respectful of the community, keep it up! omw to subscribe now :-)

I know there's tons of other comments like this but another "thank you" from a furry that randomly came across this video: it really is so refreshing to see someone outside the fandom come in and be so kind and respectful! I really enjoyed the video and hearing your thoughts and experience

My daughter is a furry and I am always amazed at the suits she makes.

The raptor masks are absolutely a trend in the fandom, i personally love to see it! A lot of newfurs getting into fursuiting via easily accessible masks.

I was selling in the artist alley at this convention (Second year doing so, you can actually see the table when she pans over between 21:15 to about 21:20) and I was so confused and worried when I saw twitter exploding after this convention, so its really nice seeing a perspective from someone outside the fandom. That outside perspective is really refreshing, especially considering how the fandom (especially younger/newer furs) like to exaggerate some of the mistakes that cons will make. Hearing about your whole experience makes me feel a lot less stressed about selling at this convention now

A little bit of info: There's always problems with the hotels at these cons. Rooms sell out almost immediately as soon as they are available. Often times, we need to reach out to others and even room with people we may have never met. There was also some kind of issue with the hotel staff this year according to a few people who went. DenFur also has a pretty weird reputation in the fandom, and while it's pretty big, it's had problems for a few years. I would suggest if you were to do this again, possibly Midwest FurFest. The moms are amazing folks BTW, many furries being queer, they often are abandoned by families, so these moms took it on themselves to be the moms of people who need it, even if it's just for a day.

I'm sorry William, I fully support her choice of conventions.

My 9 yr old daughter wanted a whole outfit when I told her how expensive it was I did order the dinosaur head and painted it and made giant fir bendable ears and it came out so cute !

I'm not a furry, but I get an overwhelming sense of joy and pride seeing people enjoying their lives and embracing their passions. Seeing the parade and the wealth of people in such a wide array of experience levels actually made me really emotional. It's clear that everyone can truly be themselves in a world where they may not get accepted for who they are. Long live the furry community.

the rabbit hole of fursuit head (and body) construction goes far deeper than you'd imagine. so much thought and care and artistry and sometimes engineering goes into it and the variety is really astounding

14:31 things like this furries call “breaking the magic”! This also applies a bit to people showing skin in general (aka Poodling). It used to be a thing quite frowned upon to do but furries have gotten more relaxed about it, mainly because the limited vision, ventilation and the constant heat of basically being covered in a colorful carpet can be dangerous. Sometimes you just have to take it off, if not to save yourself, to save your suit from having to be literally cut off of you by paramedics.

my first college roommate last year was actually a fursuit maker! he's extremely epic and worked on some foam head bases in the dorm. we formed a little friend group with 2 more friends, and all 4 of us will be moving in together next week! he has also helped all of us make fursonas so. he transformed us all into furries as well, and I'm not complaining.

Hi, furry here! The fursuit head removal thing is actually such a well-documented phenomenon that we have an entire phrase for it: "ruining the magic". Best avoided if you can, but if you need to hydrate, you need to hydrate.

Supportive furry parents are just the best- I sometimes sell my art at anime/game based cons, and I had a parent come up and look at my work, then immediately launch into how he's excited to be here with his son, and his son has come up with a character called a "fur-so-na" and it's a wolf and really cool hahah. Gosh, thinking of that proud and enthusiastic dad just makes my day (to be clear I don't even make furry art, I think this dad was just hyped to support his kid haha)

I'm a cartoony artist who enjoys drawing animals and have had an artist table at a couple of furry conventions. At the time I also had young children and seemed like a stereotypical stay-at-home preschool mom. Last time I went MLP was super big, and I was enjoying it, so when I came across a couple of MLP suiters I asked if I could get a photo with them and posted it to my Facebook. One of my 'mom friends' was HORRIFIED and thought I was at some animal-themed public orgy. I believe this was around the time of the furry Law and Order episode, so yeah, awkward.

Furry con is one of the best run conventions because the furries are mostly responsible and caring at least based off of my experiences, the bad stuff you usually see on the internet is like the 0.80%

As a furry myself, SWELL WE LOVE YOU! Your kindness and just pure curiosity of our fandom means so much to us. Thank you for being so polite to us in our safe space.

I'm not a furry, but I think it's adorable. Very creative work they do.

I swear the furry’s community’s rep should not be as bad as it is. They have a far better normal-to-creep ratio than other internet-based communities.

It makes me sad to hear you're burning out, but i'm also totally not surprised. You do so much! I hope you can take a break and get some good relaxation time in, take a break from making content for however long you need. Your audience will still be here waiting for you :)

The amazing thing about the furry fandom that not many outsiders understand is that, YES even without a fursuit, you are still a furry. I've been apart of the fandom ever since middle school, and I'm in my early 20's now. And while I would love to have a fursuit, it's a luxury that only a small portion of us can afford. So I'm glad you highlighted the dino masks, as they're an affordable way to engage with the fandom. There are a few fursuit makers that even build full fursuit heads off of these dino masks.

I was writing something so my attention got divided for a minute, and I came back to "Non-furry parents and their furry children " and it felt like a parallel universe for a second 😂

There's a reason they refer to removing the head as "decapitation".

I love seeing more yters who aren't furries giving positive representation of furries. It's such a sweet and welcoming and inclusive community that gets such a bad, bad rap! I've just never seen another community not only be so welcoming, but also so responsible and mindful of the spaces they're in as a whole. Sidenote swell, I feel like you'd have a deersona. Just saying, you give deer vibes :)

as a furry myself, it's so nice seeing such a positive take from someone outside the fandom, because the furry fandom is genuinely one of the most positive and accepting and loving communities ive ever been in 💚💚💚this community means so much to me, it's honestly such a breath or fresh air to see the appreciation for it!

Designing for more space has the unintentional affect of being more welcoming to wheelchair users. I've been to conventions in a chair before and basically been crotch height with a bunch of people trapped in a narrow alley way where they basically fall into my lap or have to leap over me to escape the crowd.

i helped staff this and saw you there! this is so wild, i saw you talking to another fan at the elevator lmao edit: we also filled 4 hotels and had just over 4200 attendees edit2: yeah the tower situation was bad just a super confusing hotel edit3: we actually did have 18+ wristbands! very helpful for fursuits actually, it just wasnt clear that we had them but it was my job to card and hand them out edit4: also as a note, aeiou is an entirely volunteer run non profit group :3 so it was attendee run edit5: omg how did i forget ot mention i also got engaged here, right after closing ceremonies

I'm not a furry but I do support them, because all the furries I've ever met have been so cool and lovely. It was really nice to see Free Mom Hugs there and hear about parents there with their furry kids.

I don’t like furry stuff but damn… why was this video so wholesome??? That’s amazing, thanks for giving me a different perspective on this group…. It’s genuinely nice to see someone present a different viewpoint without being a part of the community. Still not a furry, but came out of this with a lot of respect for how the community protected everyone.

I’m so happy that people are starting to do research about the fandom in a non biased way, and get to know the goods and bads of the community

I'd love to clarify a few things. You don't need a fursuit to be a furry as it's a self identifier. You just have to say you're a furry. Also, the leather masks are "pup hoods" and are more related to the pup play kink. Furry and pup play can sometimes overlap. :)

Furry Fun Fact: The slang for people attending a furry con who are under the age of 18 are called "red badges". One of the older cons had I think a red boarder around the minor's badges and that's where the slang comes form. Also, it was one of the best run cons because furries have been doing this based solely on community and not on profit or polar media franchises since 1989! I'm glad you had a good time, Swell. Most of the furry community is really cool, it's always fun to go somewhere that's a safe space to let your freak flag fly.

As a furry, I’m so glad you went to a furry con and noticed how well run they are! Our con staff (at least here in Texas) are always very organized and helpful! The cons I’ve gone to are all very fun, and have something for literally anyone! Con before last I went to a LPS panel, a furby meet and greet, and an Owl House panel as well

Technically every person I've ever dated has "accidentally dated a furry" 😏 Just told my mom about the free hug charity- had never heard of this group- she's pumped to join so thanks for featuring them! There is already a con in Las Vegas (Las Vegas Furcon) and one in Reno called Biggest Little Furcon. Cons tend to stay local to specific states and cities so ppl can travel around and see their friends that live in these locations. It's less about if its a party town or not. If you'd like to go to another I'd say the most famous are Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, MidWest Furfest in Chicago, and Furry Weekend Atlanta. Ive mostly been to Florida cons. Those tourists love approaching furries if they're at the same hotel as a con, prob due to the more family based tourism there. Plus they're already primed to meet mascots at the theme parks. I wonder if the Denfur normies were mostly there for business? The description of them refusing to acknowledge the giant animal people as if they were hallucinating is too funny. Never experienced that.

“I’m not a furry, just nosy.” Same lol.

As an artist I have so much love for the furry community, in general they are more than willing to pay artist their worth and are so respectful and creative. Every artist friend I have who has done anything with the community feels the same. No community is perfect, but they have since sucked me in to explore the fandom more myself and I plan to go to my first furry con next year!

I have spent the last few months helping my Grandaughter with painting one of those dino masks. We added ears and I made paws and a tail. She is so excited to wear it to Comiccon next month.

As someone who lives in Denver, in the first 30 seconds, my confusion from last weekend was all cleared up. I saw a bunch of people dressed up but had no idea there was a whole convention.

The free mom hugs thing is amazing. I love how people are willing to be there for others who might need someone like that

14:55 I love how you’re so non judgmental that the sole reason you’re bothered by fursuits is how they look when you take the head off 🤣🤣🤣

When I started working at a hotel a few years ago, everybody who trained me was super bummed that I had just missed working during the furry convention they had just had. Apparently the guests were the nicest and most considerate guests that they'd had at an event all year (this is in Australia)

I'm not a active member of the furry community but my ex was, I used to help her make fur suits and accompany her to cons. Just like any Fandom there's bad apples and weirdos but generally it's a really wholesome and loving community .and those suits have so so so much condensed foam. Like couch foam. It's heavy and hot for sure

Furry con review at last! A lot of drama goes down at any con, DenFur not being an exception ofc, but overall they tend to be very fun events

I love that this event was so well organized and considerate, I’m not a furry and neither is my wife but the common trait of acceptance and friendliness makes the community feel like a safe space to me!

dino masks are AWESOME. theyre such a creative and low entry way for younger furries to be able to make their ocs and so much goes into it. i dont have one personally but its so cool

It would be nuts if you went to Anthrocon someday, the whole city turns into just a festival for Anthrocon every year and it is INSANE. It's seriously so crazy what they do for it

I’ve never seen such nice coverage of such a thing. The variety of different costumes is mind-boggling. *It’s …… Swell !*

I’m so proud of you. I love your so open to trying all the events. These are my favorite videos. I think it’s cause you are so considerate of others. You never share faces, or minors and never pass harsh criticism to the public.

I've been to a furry convention as well as a non-furry, since my friend who is one wanted to go for their birthday. It's such a accepting and positive place. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I thought it was sweet to see a community having so much fun 💜

Furry conventions have to be very high quality and security. If they’re not, it’s too easy for people to come off the streets and start harassing and/or attacking us (as has happened before). This also means that cons that don’t have high security, quality, etc. get noticed very quickly and avoided, as it’s a safety hazard. And yes, raptor masks are mostly used and worn by minors/kids and new furs because it’s way cheaper than buying or making an actual suit :) Also omg yes, one of my favorite parts of going to furry conventions is seeing the people who are just at the hotel, not the con. Just people trying to get to the pool or something like that 😂

14:40 of oh thats an actual thing! so, in the community it's referred to as "Breaking The Magic" like. exactly like when mickey and co's heads get knocked off. in an attempt to help suiters who care for that, there are rooms with large fans they can go into to cool down and dehead. called the headless lounge. theres usually signs around the con pointing to the closest one though usually theres only 1 or 2? also uh. puphoods are at best furry adjacent its a whole different thing. like a decent number of Pups are furries but its akin to how fat hairy gay guys are called bears but arent furries its. a whole thing that can have cross over but isnt a pup = furry deal. but yeah every pup at a con is a furry. sorry if this is kinda unneeded/unwarranted, its really cool seeing this and your experience!

Remember to thank a furry for keeping the internet running!

I use to sell adult content at furry conventions. The only convention I didn’t have to worry about minors seeing our content was at the Reno convention, which had ID stop. But at most cons, minor’s Con Badges had a highlighted names. The reason I no longer go to furry conventions is because there are known child predators that are allowed at these cons. One being an adult vendor called Inked Fur. Growly, a SoCal fur, is friends with allot of California convention runners. He’s been charged for child diddling, yet is still allowed at these cons! Although I’m all for adults being adults, such as pup masks and kink gear, conventions at that point should not be all ages.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for being so kind! I am an artist who just found your channel yesterday and quickly have been gobbling up content in the background while I sew merch for Midwest Furfest! (I make those big fuzzy costumes!!!) The fandom has been a fantastic space for me as someone who has social anxiety, CPTSD, and as someone neurodivergent! Before I made my first fursuit I couldn't look people in the eye or even comment to people online because I was terrified. I needed therapy but couldn't afford it. Putting on the 10 pounds of fur and going to conventions (mostly non-furry conventions at first, it counted as 'cosplay') gave me a chance to interact with people in a safe and often wholesome way. I got to practice making eye contact as I felt comfortable, I got to practice talking to people without judgment, and long story short it led to me passing interviews and eventually running panels and events of my own. And now talking to people all weekend is how I make my living! I make the things that gave me my freedom and joy! I met my partner in the fandom and many of my friends as well, and it helped me discover myself as a disabled person I am so grateful I found a place where I am not just surviving, I can thrive! There are so many amazing people in this fandom who call it home. It's not all sunshine and rainbows but it still deserves kindness and way less judgment than it gets! To answer a few of your questions as someone who makes a living going to furry conventions and has in the past staffed a few. What you described with folks taking off their heads is kind of a meme in the fandom It is called 'breaking the magic' There is some debate and drama about it, way less than in the past but there used to be some public shaming around taking off your head outside of the fursuit lounge. There are still many furries who do have a 'this is Disneyworld' approach to things. I actually get motion sickness from suiting sometimes, I usually pop a Dramamine and go dance but still, I will break the magic as I see fit personally! The shaming has led to people not feeling like they could take their heads off when they really should take their heads off. This is a hobby we are not paid performers. BREATH! The fursuit lounge would not have food. It's usually very sweaty people surrounded by fans and fan towers to hang your sweaty heads or paws. Water water water and sometimes very long straws and some towels. This space is for suiters and handlers only, for the most part, some cons are less strict than others. But in the fandom, there are some people who have their own following, and sometimes a lounge can be a place to get away from fans with sometimes not the best social skills. Or also a place where you can break the magic if no one has seen your real face. Photos aren't allowed in most fursuit lounges. So not all pups are furries and pupheads aren't always fursuit-lite edition. Pups do have their own communities and sometimes will go to furry cons but they also have their own pup events that are usually kink related but not always. They have dog shows and events and rewards etc. I am not a pup but a few of my friends are furries who are also into that. There is a lot of overlap as well. Pup heads at furry cons especially during the daytime is actually a newer trend. In the past, it was frowned upon because of the 'furries are freaks who *insert BS here*' we had to present a very squeaky clean image to the public to get the level of acceptance we have now. At some cons even putting on a collar or harness while in a dog suit was seen as too much into 'kink'.... instead of just being another accessory to express your character. Some fursuit heads have fans that point at the mouth, and some suits have things like cheek fans, ear vents/fans, fans pointing out the mouth, etc. Many suits don't have fans at all though, many people buy those little hand fans from like Walmart and use that sometimes. Many furry conventions are run as nonprofits or not-for-profits and when you start hotel negotiations many contacts include the expectation of not only meeting certain room bookings but also restaurant/food sales being met. If they aren't it will be up to the con to cover up to that amount. This so often leads to a lack of many food options especially affordable ones. I love when a con has food trucks but it is pretty rare for a furry convention to have those, if there are many food options it's usually a pop-up like a hotel did with that bar, and usually very expensive and/or have a quota attached. Some things that are easy for a for profit con to snag can be a hurdle for a not-for-profit. (lack of food has been a big frustrating point for me at many a furry con especially now that undereating is a new migraine trigger I am navigating) You should probably go to Anthrocon. It's a con that had a lot of influence on how other furry cons are run. It also has a great relationship with the city but it didn't always have that. It's come a long way and it's also reflective of how far the fandom has come as well. By the way, there is a Vegas furry convention. It's called Las Vegas Fur Con. It's pretty new but there is much potential there! Anyway, thank you for being so kind and open to our furry weirdness! There is so much creativity (most people made their sona characters) and kindness here! It really is a space that is accepting to many weirdos who can't find a place anywhere else! Much of the fandom is LGBT+ and it can be a very diverse space we try to make our spaces fit many people with many different needs and I think we are made better for it! Id love to one day be that vendor running up to you like 'omg swell?!? I made these paws while watching you'!

shoutout to the person at 21:20 who needed two extra people just to hold their tail

Aww, I love the Free Mom Hugs initiative!

As an outsider observer, I'd say your fursona would be a bird of some sort!! Maybe an owl? I'm glad you had such fun at the furcon, the only one I've been to so far is FWA, very fun both times I went! The dance comps are awesome, I always LOVE seeing the improv skills that come out in floor wars ♡☆♡

as a furry, its so nice to see a unbiased/matter of fact approach to this. normally you just see cases of people going around harassing people n stuff- kinda going in with a negative attitude and trying to seem hard done by when they get thrown out etc

Every event you go to makes me think maybe this should be something we all do lol just “con in town? Yeah I’ve got $100 let’s go”

Speaking of performing in fursuits, the lead singer of Car Seat Headrest did a show in a full suit during their last tour which was insane and I’m surprised he didn’t pass out

I'm glad this con you went to was so focused on protecting minors. That's definitely something that anime cons are missing but need. I see way too many hentai and ecchi art in vendor halls and artist alleys where children are roaming. It's gross. We need more well-defined adult only spaces in general.

14:38 there are actually rooms called ‘headless rooms) that have a bunch of fans where fursuiters can sit and cool down Taking off your fursuit head in main rooms is called ‘breaking the magic’ some people frown upon it but for me who has asthma I don’t think I’d be able to get to a room quickly enough to take my inhaler if it gets hard to breath so I think it’s better for people to break character than suffocate or have a miserable time in their fursuit Especially with how active and animated people in suit often are expected to be

Hearing about the parents with their furry kids is so cute I hope they had a good time

this makes me want to go to a furry convention as a non-furry so badly :''

Thank you so much for making this wonderful and honest video. I am one of thy directors of the con, so I can only say so much but it seems like overall you had a good time, and I love seeing anime con regulars coming to check our cons out too!

As a furry, I would definitely recommend going to Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, Pa. It is the 2nd largest furry convention in the world, with I think over 13k attendees last year. Also, the way the city gets behind the convention is amazing. Restaurants and bars do furry themed items. They have a huge bl8ck party after the parade that lasts for hours. It's definitely worth the trip.

I am absolutely obsessed over the weird events you go to

ive been having crazy mood swings this past few weeks and the free mom hug people literally put me into tears. thats just so sweet of them

Oh my god that’s me at 18:40 haha! Actual jumpscare holy cow, been watching your vids for a while I did not expect that 😭

great video! The reason there are no food vendors inside locations liek these is often because the location itself holds all rights to sell food and they do not allow competitors inside the venue because of competition. A lot of cons have this problem. If you see a con with a special venue like a good hotel or castle ect, chances are the venue owner will not allow food vendor competors inside their location just so they can sell their own food more. Source: lifecong con goer and volunteer and vendor at cons.