Theme: Cyberpunk
Location: Congress Center Hamburg
Time for Eurofurence 28! This time Henrieke joined again, though she would leave early to attend sculpting workshop in Italy.
Henrieke and I took an early flight! As usual, we already met some furries like Wilk and Apollo at the gate.
After a short flight, we arrived at Hamburg airport and made our way to Dammtor, the train station next to the CCH (Congress Center Hamburg). We grabbed a bite in the McDonalds there (The only McDonalds left without order terminals it seems) and then went to the CCH. There wasn't much to do there yet as our charity goods didn't arrive yet.
Originally we booked a room at a different hotel for this night, as I couldn't add an extra day to my booking, but I asked the reception anyway if I could have a room for tonight, and the receptionist told me to check back later as they expected some cancellations today.
We dumped our luggage in the art show hall for the time being. I met Atkelar. I spent some time sitting in the nice Radisson lobby and had a nice Latte with Henrieke. Henrieke rested a bit, and I started on a commission for Koda.
We went back to the CCH then, I walked into Cyrilius on the way. There was a temporary staff lounge set up in the foyer. I met Shorty and KalaallitAmaroq there and chatted with Mystifur and Kazzador for a while. Henrieke told me that the registration started, so I went to her and we stood in line. Refr and Sniffer were there too. Sadly there were some issues with Henrieke's registration so she had to wait there quite a while.
We tried our luck again at the Radisson and managed to get a room on the spot through the app for 240€. Not cheap, but we were determined to have a bed asap. I canceled my other booking for a hotel near the main station and we brought our luggage to our room. Henrieke stayed there to rest a bit, I went to booth setup. Everything but the banner was there already, and we set up the booth in no time. Den dropped by and organized us some more power strips, as most of ours somehow got lost. We chatted a bit as we never met, though Den knew my art, which is always a good icebreaker. Henrieke still tried getting her badge sorted out at staff reg.
I had a slice of pizza in the temporary staff lounge, then I joined Henrieke at registration. Halite, Itchigo and Chiros also went to get their badges. After lots of computer issues, Henrieke finally got her badge. Then we went to REWE with Itchigo, Halite and Chiros. Outside the hotel I said hi to Neop.
We stocked up on snacks, drinks, fruit and some breakfast cereal, then went back to our room and took a nap. I went to find some food for Henrieke, but the food trucks weren't open yet. Inside the CCH, Henrieke just got a pretzel from the staff lounge. We met Shorty there and chatted a bit. I went backstage and met SunnyMaolo there. I was super excited to meet him, as his cosplay work is absolutely amazing. Then I helped Shorty bring some stuff to his room. He brought like 5 fursuits.
I was back at the room, and Henrieke was nice enough to go to the lobby to fetch an eraser I lost earlier, which I needed to finish the commission I started earlier. I went down later at night once I was mostly done drawing. Henrieke was chatting with Cheetah, I talked with Kwisa and BBF for a bit. We went back to our room and to bed at 0:40.
I was completely knocked out, so I slept until 11:00. In the meanwhile, Henrieke went to have breakfast with Shorty, who had one free breakfast slot as his roommate did not show up. Henrieke was nice enough to bring me some breads and an egg. I finished the commission for Koda. From our window we could see a registration line stretch into the horizon.
We went downstairs at 12:15. We figured we'd just go along the waiting people and we'd eventually run into familar faces. Eventually we met Aatheus. We chatted a while, and also fetched an Art Show Vernissage ticket for him. This was a special early opening event in the art show, where people could get one of the 300 limited tickets and see the art show a bit earlier. This was very handy as Henrieke did not have much time at the con anyway.
We went back to Aatheus and handed him the ticket. In the lobby I met RayLiehm, who used to be in our charity team. He has moved back to Australia years ago, but made it all the way to EF again this year with his partner ViviYeen. They're engaged! RayLiehm left to do some rehearsal, and I chatted with ViviYeen. It turned out, we've met in 2008, when I was in Australia, at a party in Sydney. What a small world. I asked ViviYeen to give me best regards to all the people that still might remember me down there.
We went to get some food, then I went downstairs to meet TinkerBun, who I've known online for years but never met. I also ran into Mutz, who I did not expect to find at EF! We had a short chat about minicomputers. I walked around, met Purple, Luno and Hai. Then I went to check out the staff lounge. I met Trax and Jazzy there. I had some instant ramen with Itchigo there.
Henrieke told me that Lance was on our room with her, so I dropped everything and went there. We chatted for a while, then watched the 1-hour delayed opening ceremony on our hotel room TV. The animation was great, huge props to the team doing this, they're improving so much every year! Apparently there was even a Blender employee in the audience, funny how everything overlaps!
Another thing this year was a coding conference called code.talks that happened in the CCH as well. We joked that this was a good excuse for all the IT furries to justify being in Hamburg.
After watching the ceremony, we went backstage to the Pawpet workshop with Lance. Then we went to the staff lounge. I had one of the many microwave meals, which was actually delicious!
I chatted with Kalaallit, and we tried finding more members for our pub quiz team. I also decided that I would try attending the C3 congress this year, which takes place after christmas in the CCH. This computer nerd congress has a lot of overlap with Furries to the point where EF is using software that the CCC developed for their congress.
I said hi to Hurga, then I went to the Art show vernissage. We didn't bother standing in line as we we had a ticket anyway, and shortly past 21:00, we entered. Henrieke and I spent an hour checking all the great art there. I was happy to see 3 pictures with bats on them. The event was a great idea and addded a lot of money to our charity total, so I hope it returns next year!
After the vernissage my legs really hurt. We checked out the upstairs area a bit and got a snack in the staff lounge. We sat and chatted a bit with Gallen, who we first met at Awoostria a few weeks ago, on the couches on the second floor. Then we checked out the artist lounge. We met Itchigo there. Then we checked out the area where the Artist Alley would take place tomorrow.
We went downstairs and chatted with Trax and Jazzy. I also ran into Raddic. I checked out the music at the dance, and it was great, so I decided to get Baseball. Henrieke already went to the room, I took some photos and asked Luxen about printing some signs for the charity polling station. Then I went to the room and sent Baseball to the dance. On the way, Baseball met Cee, also Gwyndolium and Skittles. This would be the last time we'd see Skittles as his suit will be retired after EF.
At the dance, Baseball partied hard and met Mutz. Outside the dance, Baseball met Neop, and together they looked for Chiros.
They all went back to the dance together, then Baseball went back to the room. I sent the charity poll pictures to Angus, then we went to bed at 1:00.
We went to the very nice Radisson breakfast buffet at 10:00. Shorty and Kazagh joined us.
Then we went to our room to pick up our Artist Alley supplies and then made our way to find a table.
The Artist Alley was located on the second floor, a little bit out of the way but with lots of natural light, nice for drawing. We got one of the last tables and set up our things. I sadly had a nasty sinus headache, luckily ibuprofen, pseudoephedrine and some snacks made that go away eventually.
I drew 5 commissions and some stickers. Henrieke also sold some things, and I took over when she took a break. I took a break and chatted with Sniffer in the staff lounge, then I went back and took over as Henrieke went to check out the Dealers Den. Chibinoms also dropped by. So did Koda and Torrn. I spotted Luno and lured him over for some photos. At 15:30 I packed up, picked up prints from the Daily EF office and dropped them off at the charity booth. Upstairs I ran into FlintGlomcat, who I didn't know was here! I was excited as Henrieke has known him for longer than pretty much anyone at this con, but they never met. So I sent him to the Dealers Den to meet Henrieke.
Downstairs I met Kuma, Garrodor and Kwisa, then I went to the room to steam and have a snack. At the reception, I picked up a package of a Star Trek Voyager model I ordered.
After taking a break, I went to the Dealers Den to meet Henrieke. It was a bit hard to find each other, as the Dealers Den was absolutely massive. So much great art! I said hi to Katara, MrLemur, Makibox and many others. Henrieke left a bit earlier. I went backstage and Henrieke was chatting with SunnyMaolo. We kept talking for a while, then I figured I'd use the toilet in the corner of the backstage hall. Turns out the doors were locked from the inside, so after a mild panic, SunnyMaolo rescured me. Lesson learned.
Then it was time to do Doodles for Donations, which replaced our Sunday open table event, which is not possible anymore at this venue. Henrieke and I sat there for an hour and made a couple of sketches for people.
FlintGlomcat also dropped by. Trax and Jazzy also came by and got drawings. Henrieke went to chat with FlintGlomcat, I went to the Furry Fediverse meet.
I met Cato and Konsti there, then I went to grab a bite at the staff lounge. I went back to the Fediverse meet and met Purple and TechWolf there. We chatted for a while, then I left and went back to our room.
I got Baseball out, who went to the inflatables panel. It was big and well attended, and Buteo presented his very impressive homebrew inflatable dolphin there. I chatted with Buteo for a while, while Gallen took some photos.
Henrieke was sitting and art-jamming with Kashmere in the meanwhile. Lance also showed up, and after a while Lance, Baseball and Henrieke went back to the room. I unsuited, then went back down to the lobby, but couldn't really find anyone. The dance was pretty nice.
Eventually I went to the Radisson bar where I sat together with Trax, Jazzy, Kuronikiro, Atkelar and Shorty. They mostly talked about NFC staff things, so I started drawing dumb stuff. I also said hi to RonnieNoodles, who was pretty drunk at that point! BBF filmed a bit, and I drew Skibidi Trax to annoy him. Went to bed at 1:20.
I got up at 6:30 and said bye to Henrieke who was headed to the airport to fly to Milan for a sculpting workshop with the legendary Andrea Blasich. Sadly she would miss the rest of the con, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I planned to grab her some food from the breakfast buffet but felt too sick to do that sadly.
I got up again at 10:00, happy to see that Henrieke made her flight and went to the breakfast buffet. I sat with Kalaallit, Neop also joined. Chiros came and brought his stuff to our room (Neop roomed with me for the remaining 2 nights). Chiros and I suited up, then Chiros and Baseball went down just in time for the fursuit parade.
Like last year, the route was through the massive park "Planten un Blomen" which was right next to the convention center. There was an enormous amount of critters in the parade, and a lot of people from Hamburg came to see it! It was really fun :)
On the route, Baseball interacted with lots of kids, got some photos taken by Ryux, and also met Trax and Jazzy. At the end of the parade, Baseball also ran into Boltik and his plush Vectron train.
Then Chiros and Baseball headed back to the room. I took a shower and lied down for a while. Carrying those heavy wings is exhausting! Henrieke arrived safely at Bergamo airport in the meanwhile.
I went back downstairs at 14:00 and ran into MrWho. Ryux gave me a printout of the photo he took earlier. The group photo was happening outside, so I joined that as well. Atkelar took it from the balcony of the CCH.
I walked up to the Artist Alley to look around and found Marlonade's table, who had an amazing style! I instantly commissioned him. Then I had some food in the staff lounge, walked around in the hotel a bit and did some charity work, then picked up my commission and went to help Luno at the "Fursuit Repair Café", an event where people can get their suits fixed.
I helped a couple people with repairs, then after an hour there were no more people coming, so I went to my room for a bit.
I went back down at 18:30 and wandered around a bit. Purple was editing pictures from her massive medium format DSLR, so I joined her a bit. Then I had some cup noodles and went to stand in line for the pub quiz with Chiros, Ricy, Kal, Mutz and Kalaallit. Kalaallit made sure we had a table as space was limited. It was actually not a traditional pub quiz, but a Kahoot. This made things a bit harder, but we did well, eventually making second place! Next time we're going for first!
After that I went to a little meetup. I met Trax and EzWolf. We chatted a bit about the state of video production. Steel showed up and drew me some art! I also did some sketches for people. I also met Ori!
On the second floor people were singing Take On Me at karaoke, and lots of people did the stupid running thing from some popular YouTube video years ago. Good times!
I went back to the room and ran into Zelus and Chiros on the way. Then I steamed a bit to clear my dumb sinuses, had an apple and hydrated. I got Baseball down to the dance, which was AMAZING!
Baseball met PaperCalypso on the dance floor, who was partying extremely hard. It was an absolute blast! Neop was also on the dance floor. After a while, my energy reserves were used up and Baseball needed to take a break. He wandered around a bit on the second floor, then took a break in the massive fursuit lounge. I chatted there with Cyrilius and got some iso drink, which is very essential when suiting.
Baseball went back to the dance for a bit, he met Raddic there. Hawthorn was also there. After some more dancing, it was time for bed. Neop also just came to the room and we went to bed at 1:45.
I went to breakfast at 10:10 and sat with Shorty. I found out that my train connection tomorrow would not be possible, so I tried making arrangements for that. Luckily Shorty happened to have room space for tomorrow night, so one worry less at least. Neop also joined us for breakfast. I chatted a bit with Kalaallit, then walked around a bit in the CCH. Then it was time for the Bat group photo that we planned to do during the con. Neop, Chiros and I suited up. Baseball and all the other bats met in front of the CCH, then got a group photo taken by Kamuniak in the park. Kids loved Baseball's giant wings.
Baseball went back up to the room to change into some smaller wings, then went back down for the fursuit group photo. Right after that, Baseball picked up 3 donation cans and met with Itchigo and ZenAku at Uncle Kage's charity show. People were very generous and stuffed Baseball's donation can to a point where he had to get another one!
After the show, Baseball, Itchigo and ZenAku stood a the exit, collecting more money, then Baseball brought all the money to security. Baseball roamed around some more and ran into F3tzi and LeafAeroSnow, who came all the way from Japan!
Outside the CCH there were a lot of families that had a good time with all the furries! I walked around a bit, then went to the room at 15:00. Back in the lobby I met Steel! We went to the Dealers Den together. I met Zhenya there, who I haven't met in years! I commissioned her and also bought a book by Charles Brubaker there. We went outside the CCH a bit, and there was amazing DnB playing at the Placeholder Club stage! I couldn't help but dance some dnbstep!
Steel and I went back inside and we checked how the charity polling station was doing. This consisted of 2 acrylic tubes, where people voted with donations. Today's poll was something i insisted on, "Regular Toilet" vs. "Skibidi Toilet". People either didn't know Skibidi toilet or had a very strong opinion, resulting in lots of donations. I did my part and threw some money into Skibidi toilet. Sadly it looked like regular toilet would be the winner.
I went back to the Dealers Den and talked with PaperCalypso. I previously bought a pigeon stickersheet from her, and he gifted me a bat sticker sheet! Her art was super adorable!
At Zhenya's table I picked up my commission, which was also really adorable!
Since the Dealers Den almost closed, I went outside and up to the staff lounge. There I sat with Sniffer, Refr, BotchFrivarg and Balisto, I had some curry and left at 17:15.
I rested on the room a but, then got into suit to still make it to the photoshoot. Baseball ran into Jazzy and Trax and doodled them something quick, then he went to see the closing ceremony in the alternate viewing location. After the closing ceremony almost ended, Baseball went to the photoshoot, where Shorty and Atkelar took some portraits. Baseball stayed there to watch the rest of the closing ceremony.
Since Doodles for Charity was still happening and an artist didn't show up, Baseball sat there, making some sketches for people. JohnyBCoon also came to get one. Since there was great music at the stage next door, Baseball couldn't resist to head over there and dance a bit. He met Burstup and Kana on the dancefloor. After some dancing, Baseball interacted with some cute kids outside and went back to the room afterwards. I took a shower and went back down at 20:30. I looked for people I know, and met with Jazzy and Trax who just returned from dinner. Jazzy, Trax, Kwisa, EzWolf, Tom, BBF and I sat together for a while. BBF left soon after to prepare his dance, and the rest of us spent a while chatting about all kinds of things.
At 23:15 I went to the room to suit again after having some snacks. Baseball danced a bit at the Big Blue Dance with Katara, then he hung out with Runo, Trax, Kwisa, Jazzy and others.
In the fursuit lounge, I chatted for a while with Ray and ViviYeen. Baseball went back to the dance for a bit and hung out a bit with Steel and Runo after. I got out of suit at 1:00, then went back down and chatted some more with Runo, Trax, Kinsir and Steel. Trax left after a while, and we had a little chat. I drew a picture for Runo on my reMarkable. I did one last round on the lobby, said bye to Oliver, went back to the room and took a shower. I went to bed at 2:50.
I went to breakfast at 10:10 and sat with Shorty, Neop, Keenora and Cody. We talked about theming ideas for next EF, the theme is going to be "Space", which is much more my jam! We looked up inflatable space shuttle props. I went back to my room and packed my stuff, then put it on Shorty's room and checked out. Neop was leaving, so I said my good-byw, then I went to the charity booth to help with disassembly.
Normally I would have had to leave soon after, but since my train didn't go I would stay all day. What gave me a lot of stress was a message by DB that my train would go after all (which later I found out was not true). This was half an hour before the train would depart, leaving me no time to even attempt catching it.
Refr, Sniffer, Itchigo, Chiros and others were packing up stuff. We also had to bring a lot of trash to the big trash bins outside the CCH. Then I went to the staff lounge and had some curry. I chatted with Shorty and Morley. Halite handed me a leftover fursuit calendar. I went back down at 15:00 and helped wrapping up our palettes with cling wrap. I said bye to Sniffer and Refr, then met with Shorty and went to the steam sauna. That was a big upside of staying longer, finally some time to go steaming!
We had the entire place for ourselves! After being done steaming, we chilled on the terrace where you have a nice overview of the CCH plaza. We were done at 16:30.
I went downstairs to the plaza a bit and met Ray, ViviYeen, Gallen, Chiros and Luxen there. We chatted for a while, while I tried to get in touch with Aatheus, who suggested going to a Brazilian steak house earlier.
Balisto found me and gave me his sketchbook for a commisson. We couldn't reach Aatheus, so we decided to just go. I went to get some art supplies from the room, and ran into Aatheus after all. So it was me, Aatheus, Halite and Chiros going to the steakhouse 10 minutes away. The steak was good, and I finished the entire commission while waiting for the food. Perfect timing!
At 19:40 we went back to the CCH, with some delay due to an Antifa protect. We walked through the park and had some beautiful dusk views of the Radisson and the CCH. I gave the commission to Balisto, then chatted a bit more with Ray and ViviYeen, who were both still sitting in the same spot. I also met Runo, Atkelar and Q-Dk outside. I went to the room and Aatheus picked up his suitcase that he has stashed there earlier. I packed my stuff as far as I could.
I went downstairs again and met Duco and Shorty talking. I already wondered why I didn't see Duco all con, but there he was! I checked out the dead dog dance a bit and decided to suit a bit, so I went to the room with Chiros and we suited up. Baseball did not enjoy the music at the time too much, so he didn't stay on the dance floor too long. Before heading back to the room, he gave BBF some wing hugs. I unsuited and Chiros went back to his hotel. I went down again to meet Runo, who sat outside with O'Wolf. We chatted a while, SunnyMaolo also joined for a bit. Eventually it was just Runo and me, and eventually decided to relocate inside the CCH as it was getting pretty chilly. We talked about all kinds of stuff including fursuiting, GLC, 90s tech, coding and life in general. Even though we've known each other since 2009 we never really talked that much. Eventually Runo went to bed, and I planned to just say buye to whoever was still there. But as it turned out, the music on the dance floor was absolutely amazing.
Rob played some absolutely amazing Drum and Bass, and I couldn't help but join the dancing crowd. JohnyBCoon was also there, and Keenora was filming with his gopro. While taking a break, I met CamiRoo, who had a really nice roo suit built by Luno. I also chatted a bit with Kalaallit about C, then went to dance some more until my energy ran out, I said bye to Luxen, BBF and Kana and went to Shorty's room. We went to bed at 2:00.
I got up at 9:30, Shorty was about to leave as he was fixing stuff for other departments. Typical Shorty, keeping the whole show running. I went to have breakfast with Reesa, Cheetah and Runo. GermanYotie also joined later.
I also packed some extra food for my long train ride, then headed out and said bye to Kalaallit on the way.
After checking out, I went to the train station, where I ran into Kalaallit and Itchigo again. They took a different train. I also met Kianga there, who ran the Fediverse meet. I took my seat in the first class, and Ryux, who was on the same train, joined me for a while. He was also nice enough to help me navigate the train mess, as he works in the industry. I drew him a little sketch and we chatted for a while. Eventually I had to relocate into his cart anyway and ended up sitting close to 6 other furries, including Kianga.
In Würzburg I changed to another ICE, then in Munich I took the Westbahn to Vienna. They charged me for a ticket from Munich to Salzburg despite saying earlier that any route waken with Westbahn would work, thieves!
Anyway, after a grueling 12.5 hour journey I finally made it back home. I picked up some milk at the late-night supermarket at the train station, unpacked a few things and flopped on my bed.
This year's Eurofurence was just.. wow! I have to admit, last year's EF wasn't that great for me personally and I was playing with the idea of not attending next year's. Well, that changed. So many things were better, and the whole atmosphere was nothing I ever experienced at any convention before. This is the first European convention to be in a dedicated convention center, and while that comes with some downsides, it also creates a unique feel. So many people from Hamburg came to party, there were so many things going on at the same time, it felt more like a big furry festival than a regular con. While I do like smaller scale cons, I feel like there is a space for an event like this, and people were very much into it. Without a doubt, next year will be even better as the Eurofurence staff manages to make the most out of this great location.
Also, I want to mention that the team I'm in (Charity) did a fantastic job, as did all the other staff that put in thousands of hours into this convention.
Looking forward to next year!
