‘Furry' frenzy in West Knoxville through Sunday

The Knoxville Zoo is offering free admission to all visitors Saturday and Sunday, but it isn’t the only place to find interesting animal activity in Knoxville this weekend.

The “Furries” or “Fursuiters,” as they prefer to be called, have convened in West Knoxville for FangCon 2014 at the Holiday Inn near Cedar Bluff.

Fursuiters are, of course, not real animals. They are people who like to dress up as animals and, well, party.

According to Garfield McLaughlin, or Draconis, as he calls himself, a Fursuiter is anyone who wears a costume, but typically it is a person “who wears fur from head to toe.”

McLaughlin is the Chairman of FangCon 2014. He said people have different reasons for attending the convention.

“A lot of them are enthusiasts,” he said. “Some people really like Halloween, and these guys have it several times a year. It’s Halloween all year long.”

The Fursuiters like to delve deep into their alter egos. Most wear animal costumes that cover their human features and prefer to be called by their Fursuiter name.

“It’s fun because you interact with many Furries and they are all so lovely and the art is amazing,” said Amanda Vigil, a Fursuiter known as Mystic Skullivine.

For many attendees, the convention allows them to break away from their normal routine and become something else completely.

“People come and dress in their “fursona,” and, basically, that’s a person who dresses as an animal or something that they can relate to,” said Brett Peterpaul, also known as Nebulous Dark.

McLaughlin got his start as a Fursuiter in the 1990s in Florida at “Furry Spring Break.” He was attending the event as a consultant at the time.

“I saw how much fun these people were having and I went out after that and bought myself a suit,” he said.

Organizers for FangCon 2014 are expecting 300 or more attendees. Approximately 150 people had already registered as of Friday. McLaughlin said he is hoping to recruit even more people from the Fanboy Expo at the Knoxville Convention Center this weekend.

“We will be advertising over at Fanboy Expo,” McLaughlin said. “They end at like 7 p.m., and we don’t do that. We end at like 2 a.m.”

FangCon 2014 will host CD release parties for two well-known artists in the fandom world. Husky in Denial and Niic the Singing Dog will perform live to promote their albums.

There will also be a Fursuiter parade, a Furry Drama Show, and dozens of other events throughout the weekend.

“As you see, we have a lot of entertainment coming through this weekend,” McLaughlin said. “We cram it all in there.”

FangCon 2014 will hold a silent auction to raise money for Tiger Haven, a large cat sanctuary in Kingston, Tenn. Last year the event raised nearly $2,000 for the organization.

FangCon is in its third year in Knoxville and McLaughlin hopes to continue that tradition. He is hoping to have a World’s Fair theme event in the coming years. FangCon 2014 began Friday and will wrap up on Sunday. Members of the public can register at the hotel. ​