The City Is Going to Experience a ‘Furry’ Invasion
UPDATE: Our suspicions have been confirmed, and Boston should prepare itself for a Furry Convention that will be held at the Hilton at Logan Airport in August.
The Maltese FurCon, one of the Boston area’s first conventions that celebrates anthropomorphic animals, will apparently have an underlying mystery theme on top of all the attendees that choose to dress up in character.
The Maltese FurCon…is unlike any other furry convention. Our convention involves its attendees in a mystery full of unforgettable characters and unexpected surprises, allowing attendees to enjoy the story as it unfolds throughout the weekend. The mystery is similar to the kinds of plots one might find at a Renaissance Fair – the plot will weave itself through convention areas, and attendees will have the chance to put the clues together to try and figure out who the suspects are, and what crimes they have committed. There may even be a reward for those who help solve the mystery!
The convention will also feature an art show, vendors, panels, and other activities “commonly found at any furry convention. “We are excited to be running the event in Boston, an area that has seen surprisingly little activity in the furry community until now,” organizers said about the three-day event.
EARLIER: If a newly created Twitter account is to be believed, Boston could be in for one very furry experience.
According to the account “Maltese FurCon,” the city could play host to what’s known as a “Furry Convention,” where hundreds—and in some cases even thousands—of costumed participants and attendees show up to one central location dressed as Anthropomorphic, or “humanized,” animals.
The Maltese FurCon account, which was created on January 15, and is a reference to the 1941 movie “Maltese Falcon,” starring Humphrey Bogart, says:
We are excited to introduce the Maltese FurCon! Boston’s premiere furry convention, with a flare for mystery!
The event location is listed as Boston, and while there is no website in connection with the planned convention—they assure fans of the animal dress-up hobby that one will be put up soon, after “a couple more details [are] tweaked before we launch officially”—the area makes perfect sense as a meeting place to bring together this type of weekend-long event.
After all, Boston has been a hotbed for large-scale conventions with video game themes, and comic book-centric exhibitions, which often draw fans from all over the country—many of whom show up in intricate cosplay costumes that they made by hand.
But before a wave of people wearing what look like mascots’ outfits come trudging down Newbury Street, or possibly invade the hotels and barrooms close by to the Boston Convention Center in the Seaport District, some might be wondering, “What is a furry, exactly.”
Well, allow the organizers of Anthrocon, one of the top furry organization that annually brings together fans of anthropomorphic role-play, to explain:
Only within the last two decades has anthropomorphic or “Furry” fandom been recognized as a distinct fan-base in its own right…We are bound together across the most daunting barriers by our mutual admiration for these beasts of myth and legend who, by simple reflection, give us a better window into ourselves… Furry fandom is instead an artistic and literary genre that is practiced and enjoyed by tens of thousands worldwide. We count among our ranks professional sports mascots, animators, cartoonists, puppeteers, artists, illustrators, and writers, as well as those who simply think that it would be a wonderful thing if animals could walk or talk like we do.
Typically, as was the case at last year’s Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, close to 5,000 people attend the gatherings—many in animal costumes—which feature social meetups between like-minded individuals, as well as workshops, panel discussions, and art exhibitions.
Pittsburgh is hosting another furry convention this summer, in July, which organizers believe could be one of their biggest gatherings to date. The organization claims there’s more to a “furry” convention to just dress up, though. And not everyone shows up in costume.
As for now, nothing is listed on the Boston Convention website in the next few months, so whatever is being concocted by this local furry fandom group is mostly likely very far off. It could even be a year or more before the convention is pulled together.
But if the Twitter account launched this week is any indication, Boston should prepare to be overrun by people in animal costumes. “This is, indeed, a ‘thing,’” the creators of Maltese FurCon Tweeted. “Stay tuned for more details.”
The event date could even come as soon as this weekend. In the meantime, here is a set of photos showing exactly what one can expect at a “Furries Convention.”
