Eurofurence

Eurofurence is a furry convention held in changing places in Europe every year. 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 911^[1] at Eurofurence 15 (held in 2009). The name of the convention derives from its American back-then-counterpart ConFurence, emphasising the European nature of the gathering.

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).

Core Staff

EuroFurence 1 was organised by Tes-Tui-H'ar and unci. Both are no longer involved with organising the convention.

For Eurofurence 13 (2007), the core members of convention staff, and their areas of responsibility, are as follows:^[2]

• Cheetah — Chairman, Programming Director
• Nightfox — Vice Chairman, Consite Relations
• Loewi — Chief Financial Officer
• BigBlueFox — Web Design, Director Video and Hotel TV
• AkiRaccoon — Lead Gopher
• Cairyn — Director Art Show, Con Book Editor
• Eisbaer — Director Dealers' Den
• EosFoxx — Guest of Honour Relations
• Jaryic — Lead Stage Crew
• Jumpy — Lead Registration Team
• Mystifur — Lead Fursuit Support
• o'wolf — Media Relations
• Riffuchs — Lead Onsite Logistics
• somewolf — Director Security, Chief improvisor
• Tigerseye — Vice Lead Fursuit Support

Whilst these are the "key" members of staff, there are many more volunteers helping to make the convention a success by doing such tasks as leading events, setting up the stage and art show, teardown and pretty much anything else that needs doing.

Locations

Eurofurence has been held in the following locations:

• 1995-06-30 to 1995-07-03 : Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (Eurofurence 1)
• 1996-07-18 to 1996-07-22 : Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden (Eurofurence 2)
• 1997-08-21 to 1997-08-24 : Bodstedt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany (Eurofurence 3)^[3]
• 1998-08-01 to 1998-08-05 : Heeze, North Brabant, Netherlands (Eurofurence 4)
• 1999-07-22 to 1999-07-25 : Berlin, Germany (Eurofurence 5)
• 2000-08-10 to 2000-08-13 : Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany (Eurofurence 6)
• 2001-07-22 to 2001-07-25 : Kirchen (Sieg), Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (Eurofurence 7)
• 2002-08-15 to 2002-08-18 : Oberbernhards, Hesse, Germany (Eurofurence 8)
• 2003-08-21 to 2003-08-24 : Samopše, Středočeský kraj, Czech Republic (Eurofurence 9)
• 2004-08-26 to 2004-08-29 : Olpe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (Eurofurence 10, commonly called EFX by the organisation committee)
• 2005-07-21 to 2005-07-24 : Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany (Eurofurence XI)
• 2006-08-23 to 2006-08-27 : Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany (Eurofurence 12)
• 2007-09-05 to 2007-09-09 : Suhl, Thuringia, Germany (Eurofurence 13)^[4][5][6]
• 2008-08-27 to 2008-08-31 : Suhl, Thuringia, Germany (Eurofurence 14)
• 2009-08-26 to 2009-08-30 : Suhl, Thuringia, Germany (Eurofurence 15)

Themes

Since Eurofurence 8, Eurofurence has had a "theme" every year, with T-shirt designs and venue "dressing" to reflect same. The following list comprises the themes to date:

• Eurofurence 8 (2002) - The F.I.A. (Furry Intelligence Agency)
• Eurofurence 9 (2003) - Cunning Little Vixens
• Eurofurence X (2004) - EFX : The Movie
• Eurofurence XI (2005) - Songs of the Old Ages
• Eurofurence 12 (2006) - The Hounds of Blackwhite Castle
• Eurofurence 13 (2007) - The Unlucky Thirteen
• Horrorfurence 14 (2008) - From Dusk till Dawn
• Eurofurence 15 (2009) - 1001 Arabian Nights
• Eurofurence 16 (2010) - Serengeti

Guests of Honour

Since Eurofurence 5, Eurofurence has had a guest of honour almost every year (possibly except for Eurofurence 6&9). The following list provides an overview of the Guests of Honour so far:

• Eurofurence 5 (1999) - Lisanne Norman, author of the Sholan Alliance series of books
• Eurofurence 7 (2001) - 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 (2002) - Dr Samuel "Uncle Kage" Conway, Chairman of Anthrocon, the world's largest Furry Convention
• Eurofurence X (2004) - Timothy Albee, Creator of Kaze: Ghost Warrior
• Eurofurence XI (2005) - Heather Alexander, Celtic Folk/World Rock Musician
• Eurofurence 12 (2006) - Dark Natasha, furry artist, winner of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration at the Ursa Major Awards in 2002
• Eurofurence 13 (2007) - Lance Ikegawa, costume designer and Steve Gallacci, Creator of Albedo (Steve Gallacci was unable to attend the convention due to family matters.) Alexander James Adams appeared as musical guest.^[7]
• Eurofurence 14 (2008) - Watts Martin, writer and fanzine editor/publisher, and once more Steve Gallacci.^[8]

Quotes

• "Anthrocon may be the biggest fur convention in the world, but Eurofurence is the best." - Dr Samuel Conway, EFX (2004)

Main events

• Pawpet show - Furry handpuppet story with custom plot, music and effects
• Stage fever - Fursuiting acting show
• Big Blue Dance - Disco with live DJ, light effects and live mixed background animations
• Group Photo
• Fursuit parade
• Art Auction - Bidding for art
• DDR Tournament

See also

• monofur, a variant of the eurofurence typeface created for this convention

References

External links

• Eurofurence web site
• Eurofurence e.V. web site
• The Eurofurence forum
• Furry History, includes information on Eurofurence
• People at WikiFur: Dark Natasha, Lee "Chairo" Strom, Mark Merlino, Tes-Tui-H'ar, unci, Cheetah, Nightfox, Jumpy, Akeela, BigBlueFox, Cairyn, Chama, EosFoxx, Flutterby, Jaryic, o'wolf, somewolf, TaniDaReal, Tigerseye
• Other subjects at WikiFur: Eurofurence (font), Eurofurence e.V., Ursa Major Awards