RainFurrest
{{Short description|Defunct furry convention}}
{{citation style|date=November 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}{{Infobox convention
| status = Defunct
| genre = Furry
| location = Seattle, Washington
| frequency = Annually
| first = 2007
| last = {{End date|2015}}
| image = Rainfurrest 2016 Logo.jpg
| caption = RainFurrest 2016 logo
}}
RainFurrest is a defunct furry convention{{Cite book|last=Austin|first=Jessica Ruth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbQ8EAAAQBAJ&dq=Rainfurrest&pg=PA104|title=Fan Identities in the Furry Fandom|date=2021-08-26|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-5013-7542-2|language=en}}{{Rp|page=104}} in the U.S. The convention was made in 2007 to replace a previous convention called Conifur Northwest. In 2013 it became the fifth furry convention to surpass 2000 attendees.{{Rp||page=70, 186-188}} It is particularly notable for multiple repeated incidents and managerial failures.{{Cite web |date=July 17, 2017 |title=The insane story of a furry convention undone by its descent into debauchery |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-insane-story-of-a-furry-convention-undone-by-its-de-1798264086 |access-date=2021-11-17 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en-us}}{{Cite web|date=2019-09-08|title=RainFurrest 2016 Post-Mortem – The Literorrery|url=https://orrery.prismaticmedia.com/2016/02/20/rainfurrest-2016-post-mortem/|access-date=2021-11-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908052505/https://orrery.prismaticmedia.com/2016/02/20/rainfurrest-2016-post-mortem/|archive-date=2019-09-08}}
Locations and attendances by year
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Dates !Location !Theme !Charity !Attendance !Parade |
| 2007{{Rp|page=186}}
|August 24–26 |Holiday Inn Seattle-Sea-Tac Airport Hotel |The Rainforest (retroactively assigned){{Rp|page=187}} |The Sarvey Wildlife Center (almost $1,000) |370 |41 |
| 2008{{Rp|page=186}}
|September 26—28 |Seattle Airport Marriott |Flight |The Ferret Rescue Society ($1,000+) |599 |89 |
| 2009{{Rp|page=186}}
|September 18—20 |Seattle Airport Marriott |Zombie Attack |Critter Care Wildlife Society ($536.78) |905 |159 |
| 2010{{Rp|page=186}}
|September 24—26 |Seattle Airport Marriott |Furst on the Moon |Northwest Wildlife Rehabilitation Center ($3,000+) |1,045 |184 |
| 2011{{Rp|page=186}}
|September 22—25 |Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center |Furry Camping |Love a Mutt Pet Rescue ($4,000+) |1,420 |378 |
| 2012{{Rp|page=187}}
|September 27—30 |Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center |Warehouse Furteen |Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary and Adoption Center ($2,500+) |1,705 |517 |
| 2013{{Rp|page=187}}
|September 26—29 |Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center |Dancing in the Moonlight |The Clouded Leopard Project ($6,454.17) |2,202 |487 |
| 2014{{Rp|page=187}}
|September 25—28 |Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center |Cyberpunk: Fur Meets Chrome |Cougar Mountain Zoological Park ($7,000) |2,586 |504 |
| 2015{{Rp|page=187}}{{Cite web|last=Baume|first=Matt|author1-link=Matt Baume|title=Being a Furry Can Change Your Life|url=https://www.thestranger.com/features/feature/2015/10/07/22972145/being-a-furry-can-change-your-life|access-date=2021-10-22|website=The Stranger|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2016/08/gene-armstrong-dispels-myths-about-furries|title=Gene Armstrong Dispels Myths About Furries}}
|September 24—27 |Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center |Swords and Sorcery |Cougar Mountain Zoological Park ($10,000+) |2,704 |492 |
Incidents
According to Fred Patten, there was discussion online among the furry community about the destructive behavior at RainFurrest 2015,{{Cite book |last=Patten |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Patten |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nkMODgAAQBAJ&q=Rainfurrest |title=Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015 |date=2017-02-03 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2688-8 |language=en}}{{Rp|page=6}} with there being reports of vandalism, multiple visits by the police, and a number of arrests.{{Cite web|date=2015-12-13|title=A Letter to our Attendees {{!}} RAINFURREST|url=https://archive.today/20151213213206/https://www.rainfurrest.org/2016/index.php/2015/10/05/a-letter-to-our-attendees/|access-date=2021-10-22|website=archive.md}} Reasons for the arrests included assault, sexual assault, and drug possession.
The A.V. Club reported that one of the attendees flooded the hotel lobby in 2 inches of toilet water.
Then organizers released a letter to attendees, claiming that "For the last few years, the Hilton sustained more damage during RainFurrest than it did from every other event at the Hilton the entire rest of the year." The Hilton terminated their contract as a result of this behavior,{{Rp|page=104}} and RainFurrest 2016 was cancelled after the organizers were unable to find a suitable alternative venue.
References
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