ConFuzzled
| ConFuzzled | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Website | |
| Status | Ongoing |
| First iteration | 20-23, June 2008 |
| Organizer(s) | ConFuzzled UK |
| Charity | Changes each year |
| Subject | Furry |
| Resources | Photos, videos, reports: ConFuzzled resources |
ConFuzzled (sometimes shortened to CFz) is a United Kingdom convention created to celebrate the genre of anthropomorphics and the furry fandom. ConFuzzled UK is registered as a private company limited by guarantee, no. 06185967 (incorporated 27 March 2007).[1]
Contents
History[edit]
Planning for ConFuzzled started in 2005 after several people from the UK furry community became frustrated by a lack of prior organization. This group decided to organize a furry convention, based upon their experience with furmeets. The convention has received help and advice from Chairo, Cheetah, Kiran Lightpaw, and Timduru.
Confirmation of the venue was announced on the website in February 2007; the same month further details of the convention events were also announced, along with the unveiling of the website and logo. The ConFuzzled Forum and FAQ opened on May 12, 2007. ConFuzzled Focus, a magazine-style newsletter started on 29 October 2007. FurbleFox was the chairman of the convention up until November 2009, when he officially announced his resignation.[2] The remaining staff elected Matt Lion as the new chairman, with Dingotush as vice-chair.[3]
The convention was initially held in the YHA Manchester, before moving to the Britannia Country House Hotel in 2010 where it remained till 2011. In 2012, it was announced that the convention was to move to the Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire,[4] where it was held for two years. Starting in 2014, the convention is hosted at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole.[5]
Attendance level[edit]
From an initial 136 attendees in 2008, ConFuzzled has grown rapidly such that as of 2011, with an attendance of 499, it became the second-largest furry convention outside of the United States (second only to Eurofurence).
As of May 2023, it was the 12th-largest worldwide, with 2,661 attendees. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention was unable to take place physically in 2020 or 2021. The 2023 outing garnered so much interest that the convention was forced to close registration early,[6] as the venue couldn't accommodate more people.
Mascots[edit]
ConFuzzled's mascot is Brok, a male badger with a top hat and an affinity for cookies; he has his own Twitter account. Brok was officially unveiled on June 20, 2007 as the convention mascot. He was designed by Josef "Tabbie" Zsapka.
In 2022, ConFuzzled introduced two new mascots: Mel, a female honey badger with a thirst for adventure and who wears a yellow raincoat; and Dylan, an introverted non-binary crocodile who wears blue boardshorts.[7]
Regular events[edit]
As well as many of the events found common to most furry conventions (Fursuit games and dance competitions, GoH and Charity events, etc), ConFuzzled runs a number of regular unique events each year.
- Pub Quiz: Formerly the WikiFur Pub Quiz, attendees form into teams of no more than eight people and answer questions provided by a host on an answer sheet. The questions often link to the theme of the convention but can also cover general knowledge, history, geography, music, and pop culture. Answer sheets are exchanged and teams mark each other's answers with the winning team getting tokens for a free drink at the bar.
- Frankensuits: Attendees are given basic supplies of fur offcuts, materials, cardboard, and other odds and ends; hot glue, sticky tape, and tagging guns, and given one hour to build (generally horrific and humorous) fursuits with the winner for the 'best' suit sometimes given a prize. All the suits that are completed are then welcome to take part in the fursuit parade that immediately follows.
- MotorFurs: Car and bike enthusiast furries gather with their vehicles to show them off.
- The Pawpets UK show: The Pawpets UK team's annual 90-minute stage show, written and performed exclusively for the convention.
- Agent November Escape Games: 'Agent November' and a rotating cast of supporting 'Agents' regularly run pop-up, Escape Game-type experiences at the Convention, usually with a new game each year.
- Director's Sea Shanty Hour: The convention directors dress up in their best seafaring regalia and lead the crowd on performing popular sea shanties.
- Yard Sale: A special sale at the end of the convention in the Dealer's Den for convention events and Pawpet show props, signs, memorabilia, old stock, and other items from the convention that would otherwise have been thrown away. There is also a last chance to buy charity items or extra convention sponsorship items such as t-shirts. Profits for everything except for sponsorship items are given to the convention's charity.
Game shows[edit]
ConFuzzled features a large number of panels and stage shows that mimic or parody popular British game and panel shows.
- Jym's game show: Parodies of gameshows and party games hosted by Jym. Despite being done on a very low budget, participants play for joke prizes while keeping accurate to the format of the original gameshow being imitated, complete with sound effects, music, and graphics on the stage screens. Versions have included Family Furtunes (a parody of Family Fortunes), Catchfurase (parodying Catchphrase), Jym's Saturday Night Travesty (variety show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway), Wheel of Foxtune (Wheel of Fortune), and Jymgo! (bingo).
- GamesMaster: A version of the British television show GamesMaster, in which furries participate in head-to-head video game challenges to decide who is the games master.
- ConFuzzled Taskmaster: A version of the British television show Taskmaster. Five participants are given a series of comedic and often spurious tasks to complete, often requiring lateral thinking to achieve. These segments are pre-recorded and played back live during the show, wherein the eponymous Taskmaster will judge their efforts and reward points. Two tasks are performed live: The opening "prize task", where participants must bring in an item for the eventual winner to take home; and the "live task", which is performed on stage in front of the audience.
- Shadow Raccoon's Price is Right: A version of The Price is Right.
- Only Connect: A version of fiendishly difficult quiz show Only Connect. Featuring two teams of three furries each, each team must combine general knowledge, lateral thinking and pattern recognition to find the connections between seemingly unrelated clues.
- Furry Card: An improv-oriented game show in which four contestants must prove their furry knowledge and earn their Furry Card.
Retired events[edit]
Previous years featured several events that appeared every year. However, these ones are now discontinued.
- Sponsor Buffet: A special lunch for convention Sponsors with extra special or themed food catered by the venue. A musical and/or fursuit performance is often provided for entertainment.
- Banner Brawl: Presented at both ConFuzzled and Eurofurence, two teams of three male and three female artists are given a large shared canvas and provided randomly selected prompts by the hosts to create a scene without prior knowledge or being able to see the other team's canvas. The audience gets to choose the winning canvas, with an ongoing score kept from one convention to the next. Both canvases are placed in the Art Auction for charity.
References[edit]
- ↑ ConFuzzled 2012 - Legal and Privacy Information
- ↑ ConFuzzled Related. - Posted by FurbleFox on November 26, 2009, on confuzzledlj. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
- ↑ Introducing the new Chairman of ConFuzzled - Posted by Matt Lion on November 28, 2009 on confuzzledlj. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
- ↑ 2012 Announcement - Posted by Matt Lion on August 12, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ↑ Announcing ConFuzzled 2014, and our new home! on the ConFuzzled website. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ↑ @cfconvention. "ConFuzzled has reached capacity for all reg types, including attending-only & day tickets. New registrations & upgrades are now closed."— via Twitter/X. March 24, 2023. Retrieved on May 30, 2023.
- ↑ "Our Mascots Brok, Mel and Dylan". Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- ConFuzzled website
- ConFuzzled TV - live and archive recordings of stage shows and panels
- ConFuzzled on Twitter
- Brok the Badger - convention mascot
- ConFuzzled Live - posts information for convention attendees
- CFz Dealers' Den - posts information for convention dealers
- ConFuzzled Engineers - "behind the scenes" posts by ConFuzzled's technology and engineering crew
- Confuzzled on Mastodon
- ConFuzzled announcement channel on Telegram
- Map of the new Confuzzled venue and surrounding area
- Photos, videos, reports: ConFuzzled resources
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