Photos by Pyat (more)

Canadian convention Furnal Equinox has begun in style, attracting 330 attendees to Toronto in its first year.

The event is the first hotel-based furry con in the Eastern provinces since 2007. After the closure of C-ACE and the failure of Anthrofest to find a suitable venue, only long-running camping con Feral! and British Columbia's one-night Howloween remained.

The two-day, non-stop schedule included 24-hour gaming, reflections on the history of the fandom, and dancing until 6AM. At least 36 fursuiters participated in the parade, and a variety of dealers and foreign observers were present.

See more: Photos, videos and con reports

Russian furs now have another event to budget for besides the long-running Rusfurrence.

The Summer Furry Conference [translation] will be held 8-11 July at the Korobitsyno Cascade, on the Karelian Isthmus linking Russia and Finland. The hotel opened in 2008 and boasts "comfortable rooms of a European level."

Event organizers expect to attract 70-100 in the first year, including a few from Finland and Ukraine, though there's room for up to 130. At press time 62 had registered interest, most from St. Petersburg or Moscow.

Morphicon's 2010 February newsletter is up - just in time for March 2nd! Topics include:

Early Registration Extended!
Charity Donations
Call for Morphicon Panels
Spectacle of Doom
Morphicon Tonight / Furry Variety Show Submissions
Comedy Hour of Doom
Fursuiters
T-Shirt Contest -- Over and Out
"Through Fox's Eyes"
Call for Gophers

Most new furry conventions strike an uneasy balance with growth. Furry Connection North found it had to move immediately after its first year. But IndyFurCon has gone one better, claiming to have outgrown its hotel half a year before launch.

Whoozfur Inc. Vice President Drittauge Cougar explained the situation:

After research due to high demand for the event, we have concluded that our current venue is unable to provide adequate space and accommodations for the convention. [...] The Hilton Indianapolis North will be taking over as our venue for IndyFurCon 2010.

Update: Memberships are on sale until Sunday. Regular: $40 -> $25, Sponsor: $70 -> $50, Supersponsor: $130 -> $105, Lifetime: $250 -> $225

Anthrocon is offering two Supersponsorship-level memberships for 2010 for "artwork, fiction, photography, and articles" in the G-to-PG-13 range.

One membership is for visual work, while another is for writings. Multiple submissions may be made in each category. All well-formatted and released entries will count for the drawing; publication preference may go to those on the theme of "Modern Stone-Age Furries."

Sponsorship drawings are a popular way to drum up con book content, while offering creative fans who can't afford the cost of sponsorship a taste of privilege.

Fauna Urbana reports [translation] on the third instance of Brazilian campout Abando, held last weekend near São Roque.

The event attracted 37 attendees — 15 more than last year, and close to the site limit of 40. Attendance cost 100 Reals (US$55), which covered the bus to and from São Paulo, four meals, workshop materials, prizes and gifts, including a t-shirt.

A new European event, Summit, will take place 26 June-3 July at a holiday house in Angerberg, Austria.

The location used to be a hotel until mid-2009, and 60 beds in 30 rooms are available.

The €160 fee includes room, breakfast and dinner. Catering is advertised as being in "100% furry-mode" — hopefully attendees will not have to pick out hairs from the soup.

Event lead Keepiru has organized furry skiing holiday Zillercon since 2001.

Guns permeate American culture — and fursuiters are popular targets, getting shot in TV shows, music videos and even fan-made productions.

To foreigners, COPS is accepted as the gospel truth; visitors half-expect to see Mickey Mouse strolling into Disneyland with a .45 at his hip, or a rifle slung across his back.

But for residents, the truth is more nuanced, as two-time Anthrocon attendee David Ross found when he was banned after openly — and legally — carrying a firearm in Pennsylvania.

Registration for Eurofurence 16 will open this Saturday at 8PM CET (7PM UTC, 2PM Eastern, 11AM Pacific).

Hotel rooms are likely to sell out within days — if not hours — based on previous years. However, the con's new location, Magdeburg, has a youth hostel and other accommodation.

Membership fees rose this year, as the event faced a €20000 loss due to a tax law change. Standard membership plus a shared room for EF15 cost €160; this year it will cost €240.

The availability of alternatives means that the con could not subsidise membership through a surcharge on room rates, as in prior years.

A lot of you have complained that our prices were high. So, we reconsidered the budget, and we’ve managed to lower our prices considerably.

Editor's note: It previously cost 2600 DKK (~US$480) for attendees, 3000 DKK for sponsors, and 900 DKK for an early arrival or late departure, making this a 35% cut in base registration. Forum posts suggest the reduction was achieved by cutting food.