Capital FurCon rescheduled due to overlap with Christian broadcaster conference
said that he was worried about a cultural conflict
and a possible appearance from Donald Trump.
(Eberra Wolf/Flayrah)
Originally scheduled for February 25–28, 2027, the convention made an announcement earlier this month that it would be moved to February 18–21, one week earlier. The note, made on July 2nd, stated that it was “Due to an error made by our hotel partner”. “This change became necessary due to the Gaylord’s sales team inadvertently double-booking our event space,” it read.
The rooms that the furry convention had contracted were not rented out to another event at the same time in a booking mishap, but rather the Gaylord is to be the venue for the National Religious Broadcasters’ 2027 International Christian Media Convention. Though occupying a different area, it partially overlapped with Capital FurCon’s original dates. The ICMC is scheduled for the last Tuesday through Friday in February; Capital FurCon had the last Thursday through Sunday.
Last week, the convention made a blog post alluding to this. The “original dates overlapped with an event that was not ideal for both events and our event's attendees.” This was attributed to “a mistake on the Hotel's side.” The event? ICMC 2027, McChaffee, the convention chair, confirmed to Flayrah.
Concurrent events and their impacts
Furry conventions can run alongside other programming when the whole venue is not contracted out. The Gaylord is both a hotel—with ballrooms and meeting spaces typical of any hotel—and a convention center. The ICMC will reside in the convention center side, and Capital FurCon will be in half of the event spaces in the hotel.
The NRB is an association of conservative media outlets, and its conference is perhaps the most disastrous event a furry convention could be paired with. Furries are often cold to the media, declining to speak to reporters. Conventions have denied requests from media outlets on perceived or actual ideological grounds. Conservative and evangelical groups are not friends of furries writ large. An intersection of the two to happen in a neighboring space is not a good idea. The most predictable result is that one of the attending organizations drags furries back into the culture wars.
McChaffee said he was concerned about interactions between pundits and furries. “I don’t think the community would really appreciate us really overlapping with an event that might have people from Turning Point USA there,” he told Flayrah in an interview. “And I don’t want to expose our attendees to media pundits, even though the majority of them are literally radio pundits, as opposed to, like, Fox News and whatnot.”
The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, on June 19, in National Harbor, Maryland. Capital FurCon will rent some of the event spaces in the hotel portion of the complex this coming February. (Eberra Wolf/Flayrah)
Another possible complication is a result of the ICMC being heavily involved in right-wing politics. Last year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered a speech at the conference, and Donald Trump spoke at it in 2024, during the Republican primaries. McChaffee says he is worried that burdensome security measures for high-ranking officials would severely impact the convention, if any attended or made an address. He suspects Trump may attend again, as president, given the conference is being held in close proximity to the White House this year.
Substantial disruption is plausible, a furry who works in hospitality told Flayrah, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. “While the hotel guestrooms and convention center spaces are separate operationally, they're still part of the same property and share entrances, loading docks, security, parking, back-of-house areas, and emergency planning.” Should security measures be implemented, it could drastically impede or make it impossible for the operation of other events, this person added.
Knowing if these measures would be taken would not be known until days before, both McChaffee and the hospitality fur said. The measures could not have been known a year in advance, when dates were chosen.
Moving date earlier to avoid further conflict
Per McChaffee, Capital FurCon was given the option of a weekend in February and a weekend in March; the latter would have conflicted with Fur the ‘More, the closest convention, so the February weekend was picked. The NRB picked its date to overlap after the contract with Capital FurCon was signed, and the hotel didn’t fully understand the implications of matching the two events, the convention chair said.
The convention was aware of the conflict as early as March, after the dates were announced and registration opened. McChaffee said that the convention had reached out to the Gaylord’s onsite events team with concerns at the time, but were assured it was fine. It was only May when the executive sales team reached out with urgency to discuss moving dates, he added. A staffing change in corporate or a new security issue was presented to them, or both, led them to “wake up and get serious about fixing things”. This sudden urgency also suggested to McChaffee the increased possibility of a politician attending.
After establishing contact, alternate dates were proposed by the sales team, and the weekend that the convention now resides had other events that were moved elsewhere to accommodate it, the chair said. He added that a medical conference that has yet to be announced would be the neighboring event. The new date change originally conflicted with Motor City Furry Con, but a week after Capital FurCon’s announcement, the Detroit, Michigan, convention changed its dates to March.
In the original July 2nd post, the convention stated that it would refund registrations in full. The dates for Capital FurCon are now set for February 18–21, 2027, one week after Katsucon, and two days before the NRB’s conference.
About the author
EberraWolf — read stories — contact (login required)Eberra (sounds like "a-BEAR-uh") is an independent reporter from New York City, and writes on furry conventions and events in the northeastern United States. His news work outside the fandom reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month. After knowing (and loathing) the fandom for many years prior, he became a furry in December 2022. You can email him at eberrawolf@gmail.com
Comments
The worst situation, indeed. Of course, changing the date may lessen the problem but not eliminate the issue. Leave it to Capital Furcon and the writer leave out one important, a small thee letter word that changes the dynamic of the story: 21+
“Capital FurCon (CFC) is a new 21+ furry convention which will be held annually at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center! And you heard that right, 21+! We’re catering to the convention crowds with a distinctly adult environment!”
I do not think Gary Larson of the Far Side would have produced such an absurd cartoon. A Gay explicit adult drunken frat party next door to a who’s who of religious media. So much for an opportunity to foster understanding and clear misunderstanding with the media. Some in the Religious broadcaster’s convention will question having to be next to a space with a subculture who produced the person who murdered and celebrated the murder of a beloved Icon.
The real loser would had been Christian furs and other trying to portray the SFW side of the fandom and clear up some misconceptions by Christian, conservative, and mainstream media, against a convention that will be fuel for the fire for some in the media.
One issue is the 21+ nature of the convention outside of Sin City. The younger furries don’t remember Foxmas, a 21+ fur con canceled by the Hotel when they found what Foxmas was about. I will be watching this one.
I'm going to respond with this from two angles, the first is the simple one that I think everyone can understand and probably knows, and then second one which is a bit more nuanced as to why you're thinking the way you are thinking and then explain why you're seeing it from the incorrect angle.
1) It's not the job of furries on vacation and hanging out with each other to be expected to do missionary work on explaining to the rest of the world why we should not be targeted by the religious, or particularly the political institutions they have tied themselves to, for just existing. The staff paid, and the attendees are paying to enjoy themselves, and yes, dealing with 'debate me bros' all weekend is not an enjoyable activity for a majority of people.
2) For the more nuanced take, I don't think you read the article and just spoke through a talking point in protest of the types of furry conventions you don't like.
The reason I believe this, is the reason you gave about the convention rescheduling doesn't match the convention's statement in the article. The convention didn't shift dates because of "the Christians being in town" or "we're afraid to debate them". They switched the dates because Republican politicians are likely going to be present.
You may not see the distinguishing factors between the two because you may believe those two organizations are one and the same, but they are really not. I don't believe the Republican Party, particularly under Donald Trump can claim to be Christian, because they are not following the principals of Christ, which is a requirement if you say you believe in Him and believe "He lives".
The convention is separating themselves from their gathering due to the safety expectations of these politicians don't clash with the safety expectations of the furries attending the convention. No more no less.
As a reminder, the President of this country and of today's Republican Party has very strong ties with a man who was throwing his own parties that WERE NOT 21+ when they definitely SHOULD HAVE BEEN. And quite frankly I find it far less concerning that furries are putting up the safety nets and noting that the party is for adults to enjoy the company of other adults than to do what Epstein did and make parties for adults to enjoy doing adult activities with people who are absolutely not adults.
You may want to live in a world where furries and Christians fully get along because you live in both worlds, but there will ALWAYS be furries who don't care for Christianity because of the 'zealots' among them, and there will ALWAYS be Christians who despise furries because of the 'heretics' among them. So, sorry to break your dream, it's not a realistic one.
Maybe that world you dream of could get closer if political parties in power would no longer try to coerce religious organizations into using adults committing minor sins consensually with one another as a scapegoat to distract that the ones among their political sphere of influence are involved in major atrocities using Ten Commandment and Constitutional breaking means. But as long as you keep thinking of Republicans as interchangeable with Christian, then there is nothing that can be done or said to move toward that world.
Because to furries, you protesting those consensual sins and not (from what is visible to the audience) those atrocities, it make you read as a zealot yourself to them.
I was contentious with a lot of sarcasm. I like to study the media. I was referring to the right (reporters, vloggers producers) who are more politically charged with a very negative views of furries who help the spread litterbox hoax for example compared Christian gospel bible teaching focus on ministry and furry mostly a distraction. It was wise to move the convention both groups are polar opposites.
The rest is a mixture of fallacies so I going to ignore and go to bed.
I would like the point out that there isn't a single letter in "21+." I'm pretty sure it doesn't count as a word either.
Also, it's good that the event is 21+. I think most furry conventions in Europe are 18+ (certainly Eurofurence and Nordic Fuzzcon, the two biggest, are), partly because the rules for events with children are more onerous. But also, why would you want children running around a convention where people are trying to sell their products, drink, socialise and wearing expensive costumes. It's not an environment for children and children being present just makes everything worse.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
I will never get tired of the giant talking Pokemon responding to the giant talking teddy bear, wondering why people think children might have a place at the furry table.
It could have been fun to have those overlap! But I suppose, probably wouldn't have been the best for anyone.
But still, for both events.. are we not going to marvel that they're being held at a venue called the Gaylord?
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Post new comment