Midwest Furry Fandom
Background and history
Midwest FurFest started as a furry focused part of the now defunct DucKon, a Chicago-based science fiction convention. The furry portion of the original convention was started at DucKon 3 in 1994 and was headed up by Robert King. Interest grew each year, and it was estimated that by DucKon 8 (1999) between one-quarter and one-third of those attended present due to interest in the furry component of the convention.
Interest in furry specific activities grew to a size that it was no longer feasible to exist as a part of DucKon, and the convention was spun off in 2000, with the creation of Midwest Furry Fandom Inc., with the first MFF happening in November 2000. The convention has grown from 473 attendees in 2000 to 13,641 in 2022, making it the largest furry convention in the world by more than 3,900 attendees over the previous largest convention, Anthrocon. It has helped raise over US$900,000 for various charities.
Incidents and controversies
2014 gas attack
On December 7, 2014, a gas leak occurred at the Hyatt hotel in Rosemont, which was accommodating attendees. The hotel was evacuated, and 19 guests were hospitalized. Later, an investigation found a broken glass bottle containing a concentration of chlorine powder inside the building. 18 of the 19 people hospitalized were released soon after and the convention continued. Rosemont Police interviewed hotel guests and employees, as well as employees at local stores which sell chlorine. While these interviews and subsequent investigation did not result in any known suspects or charges, police continue to treat this as a crime.
Milo Yiannopoulos
On September 15, 2019, Milo Yiannopoulos announced his intention to attend that year's convention. After significant backlash from other attendees on social media, Yiannopoulos was swiftly banned from the convention the following day.
Bluetooth Low Energy spam attack
At the 2023 festival an attendee tweeted that the Android device they used to control their insulin pump had been interfered with by a Bluetooth Low Energy spam attack. They said that if they hadn't been able to fix their Android device they would have had to go to the hospital.
Locations, attendances, and charity donations by year
| Year | Location | Attendance | Charity Donation |
Charity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arlington Heights, Illinois | 473 | $3,522 | Wolf Park, Valley of the Kings big cat sanctuary, and Chicago House |
| 2001 | 511 | $6,800 | Animals for Awareness | |
| 2002 | Schaumburg, Illinois | 685 | $6,088 | Animals for Awareness |
| 2003 | 800 | $6,500 | Animals for Awareness | |
| 2004 | 959 | $7,000 | Furry Friends Foundation | |
| 2005 | 1,066 | $6,800 | Wildlife in Need | |
| 2006 | 1,422 | $13,049 | Safe Haven Wildlife Refuge | |
| 2007 | 1,690 | $15,193 | Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation | |
| 2008 | Wheeling, Illinois | 1,992 | $15,000 | Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy |
| 2009 | 2,040 | $12,799 | Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education for Wildlife | |
| 2010 | Rosemont, Illinois | 2,285 | $11,300 | Castaway Pet Rescue |
| 2011 | 2,600 | $19,575 | Animal Education and Rescue | |
| 2012 | 3,216 | $40,500 | Felines & Canines | |
| 2013 | 3,904 | $28,000 | One Tail at a Time | |
| 2014 | 4,571 | $31,446 | Critter Camp Exotic Pet Sanctuary | |
| 2015 | 5,606 | $62,021 | Save-A-Vet | |
| 2016 | 7,075 | $78,482 | Felines & Canines | |
| 2017 | 8,771 | $85,000 | CRISP | |
| 2018 | 10,989 | $94,000 | SitStayRead | |
| 2019 | 11,019 | $224,704 | Felines & Canines | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2021 | Rosemont, Illinois | 9,332 | $74,303 | Mission Companion Paw |
| 2022 | 13,641 | $106,683.66 | The Street Dog Coalition | |
| 2023 | 15,547 | $185,758.31 | Live Like Roo | |
References
- ^ Patten, Fred (3 January 2017). Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015. McFarland & Company. p. 170. ISBN 978-1476663814. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ "DucKon - Fancyclopedia 3". 2018-03-13. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ Peregrin, Tony (20 November 2019). "Fur the record". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- ^ "Midwest FurFest". Midwest FurFest. 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ "PREVIOUS CHARITIES". midwestfurryfandom. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ "Police investigating chlorine gas incident at 'Furry' convention as criminal act". UPI.
- ^ Mazza, Ed (8 December 2014). "Furry Convention Chlorine Gas Incident Sickens 19 Near Chicago". HuffPost. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "'Furry' convention disrupted as 'intentional' gas incident sends 19 to hospitals". Chicago Tribune. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "The Unsolved Case of the Gas Attack at a Furry Convention". Vice. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "'Furry' Convention Disrupted by 'Intentional' Chlorine Gas Attack, 19 Hospitalized". People.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ Dickson, E. J. (2019-09-16). "Furries Got an Alt-Right Troll Banned From Their Convention". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- ^ Toulas, Bill (2023-12-23). "'Wall of Flippers' detects Flipper Zero Bluetooth spam attacks". Bleeping Computer. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
- ^ Midwest FurFest [@FurFest] (December 21, 2018). "While we don't consider attendance numbers to be the measure of success, we are pleased to announce the final attendance for Midwest FurFest 2018: 10,989 attendees. Thank you to everyone who attended this year, and we hope to see you again at Midwest FurFest 2019!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 15, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Midwest FurFest Raises $92,000 for SitStayRead!". SitStayRead. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
- ^ "Thanks to all our attendees for making this possible — We couldn't have done it without you!". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
- ^ "MFF 2021 wrapup". Midwest Furfest. 23 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
- ^ Midwest FurFest [@FurFest] (December 4, 2022). "Live from closing ceremonies: Thank you to our 13,641 attendees. You make this convention special!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 15, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Closing Ceremonies: Registration at its peak helped nearly 1700 people an hour. Thank you to our 15,547 attendees. You make this con special". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
- ^ "@FurFest you are an incredible community and you are now and furever part of the Roo Family. They raised $185,758.31 for animals with cancer. We laughed, we cried and we sobbed as I read the total. It will help so many people and animals that need us. We will never forget this". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05.