Argentina FurFiesta

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Argentina FurFiesta (ArFF)
ArFF Logos (Small and Big)
Location	CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Website	http://www.furfiesta.com/
Status	Ongoing
First iteration	28-30 June 2019
Organizer(s)	Argentina FurFiesta Organizing Committee
Charity	ACMA
Subject	Furry
Resources	Photos, videos, reports: Argentina FurFiesta resources

Argentina FurFiesta, or ArFF, is the second hotel-based furry convention to happen in Argentina and the first one in the city of Buenos Aires.

By June 28-29-30 of 2019, ArFF celebrated its very first edition with 234 attendees from 11 different countries.

History[edit]

The idea of a Furry Convention in Buenos Aires is not new for the local fandom, it has been present since Argentinafurs born in FA back in 2009, by that time, the Argentinian fandom had its own convention UFACon held in the city of Rosario.

Throughout the years dozens of furmeets were organized in Buenos Aires and thanks to that the community started to gather more and grow. Eventually a group of furs also organized in Cordoba under the name of Cordoba Furs and they started to organize their own furmeets. As country, numbers became bigger and bigger and eventually it was clear that the local furry community needed a different type of event.

Back in August 2017 and thanks to the influence of Brasil FurFest gears started turning and ideas started popping up, the staff toyed with many names until the acronym "ArFF" appeared, this acronym was what in the end pushed the name of Argentina FurFiesta. The inclusion of the word Fiesta in the name its important because first its in Spanish and second it refers to a celebration.

On October 7th of 2018 the first teasers appeared, the following days artwork made by different artists popped up featuring the same message "something is happening in the streets" and in the 14th of that same month the event was finally revealed during the Furmeet XXII held by CordobaFurs in the city of Cordoba a launch trailer came along with that announcement. Ticket sales started on December 9th, 2018 a day after FurryNight closed its first edition, but the very first ticket was raffled during FurryNight to one of their attendees.

As months went by, Fox Amoore was announced as Guest of Honor for the very first edition and Bocalan Argentina was appointed as that year Charity.

2019 was a very powerful and emotional ride for all the local furry community, the dream of an Argentinian hotel furry convention was made a reality and 2020 promised to be even bigger. Unfortunately, 2020 was a massive blow for the event, as the pandemic hit it forced the convention to be postponed from May to September. But the biggest blow came shortly after the postponement announcement as the Hotel Castelar & Spa foreclose withholding the down payment of the event as a result. In the end and after a long struggle, funds were recovered but due to inflation and devaluation of currency in Argentina, it was worth half.

As 2020 progressed the event organized 3 Open Days which were live shows lasting for a few hours with different activities and elements of a Furry Convention, the first one was celebrated on May 30th, 2020 (the original planned date of the event), the second one was celebrated on September 26th, 2020 (The postponed planned date of the event) on a full fledged streaming studio and the final third was hosted on January 9th, 2021. Open Day 3 was planned again on the streaming studio but unfortunately due to a few positive close contacts of COVID-19 it had to be moved to be streamed from home.

2021 brought new opportunities but due to the ongoing restrictions imposed by Argentina in regard to the pandemic, the event decided to host its official 2nd edition 100% Online under the original planned theme of Baubao's Haunted House. The date was set to November 6-7th, 2021 and there won't be any more Open Days in the middle, just small 2 hours live shows called "Saturday ArFF Live" which serve as vehicles for announcements, important information and updates on the general event situation.

The second edition of ArFF! was a free online event and it featured a massive adventure world in Minecraft filled with lore, riddles, puzzles and surprises built block by block from the ground up; an insane capture the flag treasure hunt known as The Adventures of Baubao Island which was linked directly throughout every world and aspect of the convention; a custom made VRChat world featuring a dealers den and lounge spaces to chill and take pictures; a small nostalgia trip down memory lane in a Furcadia Dream; a big immersive Dealers Den experience in Mozilla Spaces; and an online stream with panels and activities filmed on a stage in a remote location with the support of TV staff and cameras.

During the 2021 online edition of ArFF Negy & Peritian were appointed as guests of honor and Adopciones Quilmes was the chosen charity. The event raised more than 1400 USD for charity and around 600 USD to support the online event.

Finally the big announcement came on February of 2022, the third edition of the event will be held in person on August 12-14 at the Abasto Hotel in Buenos Aires, Alibi & Zue will be the Guests of Honor and ACMA is the chosen Charity for this opportunity.

The third edition of the event ended being a success with 369 furries attending from 10 different countries, 118 of them were fursuiters. The event raised the amazing sum of ARS 1.108.840 (USD 7822,50) to [https://www.acma.org.ar/ Asociación Contra el Maltrato Animal (ACMA).

Statistics[edit]

Order	Year	Theme	Dates	Attendance	Fursuiters	Guests of Honor	Location	Charity Amount	Charity Organization
1	2019	ArFF;Saga	Jun 28 - 30	234	91	Fox Amoore	Hotel Castelar & Spa - Buenos Aires, Argentina	ARS 80.647 (USD 1858,22)¹	Bocalán Argentina
2	2021	La Casita Embrujada de Baubao - Baubao's Haunted House	Nov 6 - 7	----	76	Negy & Peritian	Streamed Online, Minecraft, VRChat & Furcadia	ARS 252.703 (USD 2400.97)¹	Adopciones Quilmes
3	2022	Locuras en el Aeropuerto - Airport Antics	Aug 12 - 14	369	118	Alibi & Zue	Abasto Hotel - Buenos Aires, Argentina	ARS 1.108.840 (USD 7822,50)¹	Asociación Contra el Maltrato Animal (ACMA)
4	2023	Base Lunar ArFF - Moonbase ArFF	Jun 16 - 19	427	165	Garoline	Abasto Hotel - Buenos Aires, Argentina	ARS 2.141.691 (USD 8097,13)¹	Asociación Contra el Maltrato Animal (ACMA)
5	2024	Aventuras en el Templo Perdido - Adventures in the Lost Temple	Aug 16 - 18	TBA	TBA	CoddyBarks	Abasto Hotel - Buenos Aires, Argentina	TBA	Asociación Contra el Maltrato Animal (ACMA)

¹ Exchange rates of the monday after the convention ended, rates taken from "Banco Nación".

Hotel[edit]

The event takes place at the Abasto Hotel in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Hotel is located near the commercial district of Once, right in front to the Abasto Shopping Mall which is a very busy and centralized commercial hub in the area, as a result its well connected to the rest of the city by public transportation.

Programming and Schedule[edit]

All the information regarding the schedule will be available at Argentina FurFiesta official Website. The event features many similar activities as any other furry convention such as: Opening and closing ceremonies, dancing competition, fursuit menagerie, Dance, Dealers Den, etc.

On the 2022 edition an After Dark segment debuted called "ArFFter Dark" featuring special panels and activities for adult audiences along with a Dealers Den exclusively dedicated to 18 content. Other thing that was introduced that year was the "Warm Up Party" which happened on the thursday prior to the convention, this party was only accesible for those who had a Sponsor Ticket or higher.

For 2023, ArFFter Dark segment and the Warm Up will return.

Theme[edit]

For the 2019 edition the chosen theme was "ArFF;Saga" an MMORPG game where players will have to defeat the evil that corrupts and devours the earth. Ssar-Mud seeks to grasp the moon and launch himself to the sun, to eat all of its light and cast an infinite night over earth where life will peril as a result. This theme played with the fact that a total Solar Eclipse came shortly after the event, in July 2nd, which was visible from Argentina.

For the 2021 online edition of the event, the theme was "La casita embrujada de Baubao" (Baubao's haunted house) which worked really well with the fact that the Hotel Castelar was a 100 year old building. With the hotel closing for good and the pandemic, theme has to be recycled for the online convention.

For the 2022 in person edition the theme is "Locuras en el Aeropuerto" (Airport Antics) which featured many aspects, hassles and inconveniences of traveling by plane within the 4 walls of a hotel. Multiple TV screens were used as signage showing programing and destinations throughout the world (Small video clips provided by other furry conventions) and the social mixer was themed around a massive (and very chaotic!) boarding process for many flights at the same time.

For the 2023 the theme will be "Base Lunar ArFF" (Moonbase ArFF) and it will takes us to the moon, imagining how the world would be if the Apollo era continued to this age, with constant presence of humanity on the moon.

Staff[edit]

The ArFF Staff, features many well known and experienced furs among the local furry community in Argentina.

Osi, Fech The Pup and Policho are the board members of the event. Since 2018, Policho has been appointed as the convention Chair.

Mascot[edit]

Baubao was created by Mars Canis. He is a trans male white dog with no particular markings except for a big snout. This dog loves to portrait characters and disguise with a thousand different outfits and accesories.