Got to attend Furry Migration for the whole day today.

I arrived after 10 AM and get registered into the con. After that, I went to meet up with my friend Calla in her hotel room so that I could store my belongings there and get to know her friend Remi and her boyfriend Roury (who were staying as roommates). Then we all went downstairs to browse through the Artist’s Alley and the Dealer’s Den to see what was for sale. I ended up buying a ton of merchandise, including some stickers, pins and art prints. Since the fursuit parade was coming up soon and that I needed to eat lunch myself, I grabbed a bite to eat from the hotel’s cafe (I got an Italian croissant sandwich) and went up to Calla’s room to change into my fursuit.

I ended up at the parade just when massive group photos were being taken at the Main Stage, and I happened to be near the front of the line. While I waved to everyone in the sidelines, I overheard joking comments like “It’s a coat rack!” and “What’s up, Rudolph?” in reference to the fact that I wore my deer fursuit for it.

Calla was unable to participate in the parade, but she did want to spontaneously wander around the con in our fursuits and interact with old and new friends, so we did. I even got to have pictures taken at the studio photography sessions; I’m glad I got to do that since the studio photography sessions were unfortunately not hosted last year. At one point, someone mentioned that a wedding was happening later that night in the same hotel as us, and that his friend the groom and the bride wanted to surprise the wedding guests at the reception by having as many fursuiters “crash” the party. Calla and I decided to go in on this idea and planned on it for later.

Then I returned to the hotel room to clean my suit and shower up from being hot in the suit for a couple of hours, just in time for me to attend a panel that focused on a number of anime shows featuring anthropomorphic animal characters (including Samurai Pizza Cats, Beastars, Noozles, B.N.A., and Aggretsuko).

After grabbing some supper at the hotel cafe again (this time, I had a cheese flatbread pizza), I returned to the room to rest up before getting into my suit one last time to “crash” the wedding party. The fursuiters involved in the crashing simply walked in and waved to everyone while getting pictures taken with them. The bride and groom knew what was going to happen, but not the guests, so they certainly were a bit surprised and amused at the sight of animal people wandering into the party.

Finally, by about 8 PM, it was time for me to go home. I said my goodbyes to Calla, Roury and Remi, and I thanked them for their kind hospitality before I left the con for the night.

I am glad I went this year. Since I had been so busy with work all summer, I didn’t get the chance to have a true social life to speak of, so I’m thankful to get time off from work to attend the con. I look forward to coming back again next year.