New Year's Furry Ball

The New Year's Furry Ball, or NYFB, is an annual event hosted by The Furst State and other local furries in the Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey region of the USA, from December 31 - January 1 each New Year.

2005 and 2006 ("Room Con" in Berlin, NJ)
Chrono Otter Coon (Chrono) hosted a New Year's party for two years which was playfully dubbed Room Con at his private home in Berlin, New Jersey. The party was followed with a visit to a local restaurant or bowling alley on New Year's Day. There were 23 attendees for the 2005 New Year and 38 attendees in 2006. For the 2006 New Year, Room Con badges were distributed to partygoers.

Chrono intended to officially move the event to a hotel the following year, but later announced that he was leaving the area. Tigra began making plans for a replacement New Year's party, before allowing LupineFox to take over.

Based on a suggestion by Cyril Jackal that some objected to and a compromise suggestion by SomaCat the replacement event was officially named the New Year's Furry Ball.

2007 to 2010 (Quakertown, PA)
The event was hosted for 3 consecutive years by LupineFox with assistance from SomaCat, SkippyFox, Tigra, LittleWolf, Kung Fu Dave and other locals at the Quakertown Comfort Inn.



For the first two years the event took place entirely within two suites in the hotel, and not in a hotel's actual meeting space. The third year expanded to six independently run themed room parties throughout the hotel. Attendees received badges made to resemble government passports, and each official party had a unique stamp for attendees to collect on their passports.

For the 2010 New Year, the fourth and final year in Quakertown, the event was organized by Protocollie. There were four con suites next door to each other: registration/raffle, video game room, open bar/dance suite (21+ to enter), pizza/lounge room and one additional open room party serving dinner.

2011 to present (Newark, DE)
Now organized by Protocollie, Kitt3ns and members of Furst State, the event was moved to the Embassy Suites Newark-Wilmington/South in Newark, Delaware, and utilized actual hotel meeting space instead of individual suites. For the 2011 New Year the event featured music from DJ Protocollie, a Rock Band game area, a buffet-style catered dinner, cash bar and a raffle.

Furstivus was held instead of the New Year's Furry Ball for the 2012 New Year. NYFB 2013 returned to the "doomsday proof" Embassy Suites on December 31, 2012 - January 1, 2013.

2014-15
New Year's Furry Ball 2015 started on December 31, 2014, at 7pm, at the Embassy Suites.

2015-16
New Year's Furry Ball 2016 started on December 31, 2015, at 5pm, with the ballroom to close at 1am on January 1 with the gaming rooms to "remain open until things calm down." The event was at the Embassy Suites.

2016-17
New Year's Furry Ball 2017 started on December 31, 2016, at 5 pm, and the ballroom closed at 1am on January 1 with the gaming rooms to "remain open until things calm down." The event was held at the Embassy Suites.

2017-18
New Year's Furry Ball 2018 theme was "Shipwrecked on a Tropical Island". The event was held at the Embassy Suites.

2018-19
New Year's Furry Ball 2019 theme was "Masquerade Ball" and it was held again at the Embassy Suites hotel in Newark, Delaware. This was the first year that NYFB was run by The Furst State's board and a newly selected staff. $298 was raised for the charity Mazzoni Center.

Attendance

 * NYFB 2007 (2006-2007): 55
 * NYFB 2008 (2007-2008): 92
 * NYFB 2009 (2008-2009): 122
 * NYFB 2010 (2009-2010): 115
 * NYFB 2011 (2010-2011): 146
 * Furstivus replaced NYFB for 2011-2012
 * NYFB 2012-2013: 175
 * NYFB 2013-2014: 211
 * NYFB 2014-2015: 289
 * NYFB 2015-2016: 340
 * NYFB 2016-2017: 350
 * NYFB 2017-2018: 340
 * NYFB 2018-2019: 438