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DenFur 2025 was a blast!
3 months ago
General
I have something to say!
Denfur is over and I've gotten some time to compile my thoughts....
It was an INCREDIBLE experience to get to go for the whole weekend this time. Last year was a great day-out sort of experience, but I didn't really know what to make of it all in the moment. Didn't do much exploring or even that much talking. Definitely put in work to rectify that this time around.
Woke up early since I had decided to commute down to the con for the whole weekend. Definitely the right decision for my wallet, way cheaper than finding a place in downtown Denver. Ate up a quarter of a tank of gas each day plus parking, but those were manageable. But I digress.
I had made sure to get most of my stuff in the car the night before, so I didn't have to worry as much the day of. Pretty much just had to get the glamrock Freddy cosplay I'd been working on into the car and change when I got there (not like a suit or anything, more like an outfit based on the design). Grabbed some quick breakfast and refueled on the way down for good measure.
Lucked out in how early I got there, and managed to get pretty close to the front of the line too! Early enough to be able to go to the opening ceremonies. That was fun to experience. Afterwards visited the Heart Leaf Games table and picked up a couple of their pins. Did some shopping around artist alley, picking up another couple of pins as well as a pair of small prints.
Along the way got my paws on the badge I had commissioned from HowdyLake. Still obsessed with the little Polaroid badge! Still wild to look at art of Ryker that I can hold in my hands. Sure I can always just print off what I've commissioned but it's not quite the same, y'know?
Later on went to my first panel of the weekend. Recipe swapping! Side note: I had printed off a bunch of copies of some of my recipes to bring and just give to people at the con. Real glad I did that. It was nice having something unique of mine to share with others. Took up a lot of space in my backpack though, so I'll probably try to make it smaller so it's easier to bring along. Thoughts for next time I suppose. The panel was a little bit of a bust though, the panelist didn't show up, so we kinda just traded recipes by ourselves before awkwardly leaving. Though, got to meet a new friend at that panel! (Definitely want to have stickers to share next time. Don't have any of those...yet. Pending for next year.)
Did some more shopping in the dealer's den and bought even more pins. Had to restrain myself from buying more. There were a lot of really cool pins at the con this year. There were plenty of cool ones last year too, but I feel like there was just so many MORE pins to look at and want to buy this year! Also picked up a lanyard to put my badge on. It was weird and awkward having it on my backpack up to that point.
Wandered back near the Heartleaf games table to eat a snack while waiting for 4 PM so I could join a D&D adventure. Coincidentally the new friend I had made was also there and we got to be in a party together. The adventure was broken up into two sessions one of Friday and the other on Saturday. Got to play a Paladin Bear, smiting monsters! It was real fun. It was SO refreshing to get to play D&D after so long and actually get to finish a story. During this first session we got to explore a fantasy cruise ship (the first of its kind in the lore) and meet NPCs, ending with a kracken attacking the ship. I'll get to the second session when I get to Saturday.
Though there wasn't that much to do on Friday. When the session was over, we dispersed again. Finally remembered to eat some food at a food joint next to the hotel. Very good empanadas. YUM!
The last thing I got to do was visit the TF panel during the after dark period of the day. Wanted to go to the VN panel too, but by the time the TF panel was over, I was getting too tired and had to call it a night. I had to migrate north for the night, afterall. I did bring a bag with stuff to stay overnight somewhere if I did get to a point where I was too tired to drive, but luckily it didn't come to that. I know my limits well enough.
A little bit of a later morning than Friday. Didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn just to get in line for registration afterall. Brought my mason jar of pins this time for the pin trading panel that afternoon.
Starting things off by checking out and witnessing the big fursuit group photo, no parade this year sadly. Seeing all the cool fursuits got me wanting one of my own that little bit more. Someday...
That sentiment definitely lingered and totally did not inform my decision to buy a pre-made tail during the day's trip through the dealer's den. Nope! *looks around suspiciously* (I don't think they noticed)
But seriously, one of the other big reasons I bought the tail that I did was due to the particular shade of red the fur was. Like, oh! This is the perfect shade for a potential future Ryker suit someday.
After putting that on, I made my way down to the pin trading panel and made several trades, like way more than I was imagining I would end up trading. Good trades though, really happy with the stuff I got!
Ending up going straight from that to the Colorado furs meet and got to learn a little bit more about local furry events and connections before heading off toward D&D again.
Session two was a lot more combat heavy. After landing the final blow against the kracken, the ship turned into a floating, moving dungeon on the high seas. We ventured below deck, fighting monsters and saving our fellow passengers from the monsters that had taken up residence in the transformed halls of the ship. That session ended with a fight against a demi-kracken down in the ship's magitech engine room that had caused the ship to turn into a dungeon in the first place. Turns out putting a dungeon boss monster inside the engine of a ship has consequences.
Not quite sure how I ended up being the one to also land the final blow on this kracken too. (It did nearly kill me though, had real low health by the end of that fight.)
Had so much fun playing that I planned to pick up the book at their table the following day (since the table had closed for the day by the time we were done.)
Ended up being a slightly earlier exit that night, not any late night panels that I absolutely HAD to go to over getting home and sleeping.
Started off this day at the con going beelining for the Heartleaf Games table to buy the book. Looking forward to reading through that later! Afterward went to a Christian Furry Fellowship panel. Had some burning curiosity that needed satiating. Turned out to be a really good discussion!
Afterward met up with a mutual over on bluesky and wound up talking the day away with them talking their ear off about Pikmin. I tend to be pretty shy and bad about starting a conversation, but once you get me going, I turn into a yapper. Talked so much of the day away that the only other thing I did that day was go to the closing ceremonies before leaving.
Didn't win the fursuit charity raffle, as expected. The odds are rarely in my favor. But it was worth a shot and the money went toward the charity. I forgot what its called, probably should have written it down at some point, but it was like a shelter for little itty bitty kittens. (They brought a few and they were in fact the most adorably sweet little kittens I had ever seen.)
Going into this con, my main goals were to go for the whole weekend, make new friends, and learn more about my local furry community, and I think I succeeded quite well!
Denfur 2025 was a great time, and I'm excited to go again next year! Maybe next time I'll bring some caffeine so I can get through all the late night panels without passing out from exhaustion.
It was an INCREDIBLE experience to get to go for the whole weekend this time. Last year was a great day-out sort of experience, but I didn't really know what to make of it all in the moment. Didn't do much exploring or even that much talking. Definitely put in work to rectify that this time around.
Day 1: Friday
Woke up early since I had decided to commute down to the con for the whole weekend. Definitely the right decision for my wallet, way cheaper than finding a place in downtown Denver. Ate up a quarter of a tank of gas each day plus parking, but those were manageable. But I digress.
I had made sure to get most of my stuff in the car the night before, so I didn't have to worry as much the day of. Pretty much just had to get the glamrock Freddy cosplay I'd been working on into the car and change when I got there (not like a suit or anything, more like an outfit based on the design). Grabbed some quick breakfast and refueled on the way down for good measure.
Lucked out in how early I got there, and managed to get pretty close to the front of the line too! Early enough to be able to go to the opening ceremonies. That was fun to experience. Afterwards visited the Heart Leaf Games table and picked up a couple of their pins. Did some shopping around artist alley, picking up another couple of pins as well as a pair of small prints.
Along the way got my paws on the badge I had commissioned from HowdyLake. Still obsessed with the little Polaroid badge! Still wild to look at art of Ryker that I can hold in my hands. Sure I can always just print off what I've commissioned but it's not quite the same, y'know?
Later on went to my first panel of the weekend. Recipe swapping! Side note: I had printed off a bunch of copies of some of my recipes to bring and just give to people at the con. Real glad I did that. It was nice having something unique of mine to share with others. Took up a lot of space in my backpack though, so I'll probably try to make it smaller so it's easier to bring along. Thoughts for next time I suppose. The panel was a little bit of a bust though, the panelist didn't show up, so we kinda just traded recipes by ourselves before awkwardly leaving. Though, got to meet a new friend at that panel! (Definitely want to have stickers to share next time. Don't have any of those...yet. Pending for next year.)
Did some more shopping in the dealer's den and bought even more pins. Had to restrain myself from buying more. There were a lot of really cool pins at the con this year. There were plenty of cool ones last year too, but I feel like there was just so many MORE pins to look at and want to buy this year! Also picked up a lanyard to put my badge on. It was weird and awkward having it on my backpack up to that point.
Wandered back near the Heartleaf games table to eat a snack while waiting for 4 PM so I could join a D&D adventure. Coincidentally the new friend I had made was also there and we got to be in a party together. The adventure was broken up into two sessions one of Friday and the other on Saturday. Got to play a Paladin Bear, smiting monsters! It was real fun. It was SO refreshing to get to play D&D after so long and actually get to finish a story. During this first session we got to explore a fantasy cruise ship (the first of its kind in the lore) and meet NPCs, ending with a kracken attacking the ship. I'll get to the second session when I get to Saturday.
Though there wasn't that much to do on Friday. When the session was over, we dispersed again. Finally remembered to eat some food at a food joint next to the hotel. Very good empanadas. YUM!
The last thing I got to do was visit the TF panel during the after dark period of the day. Wanted to go to the VN panel too, but by the time the TF panel was over, I was getting too tired and had to call it a night. I had to migrate north for the night, afterall. I did bring a bag with stuff to stay overnight somewhere if I did get to a point where I was too tired to drive, but luckily it didn't come to that. I know my limits well enough.
Day 2: Saturday
A little bit of a later morning than Friday. Didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn just to get in line for registration afterall. Brought my mason jar of pins this time for the pin trading panel that afternoon.
Starting things off by checking out and witnessing the big fursuit group photo, no parade this year sadly. Seeing all the cool fursuits got me wanting one of my own that little bit more. Someday...
That sentiment definitely lingered and totally did not inform my decision to buy a pre-made tail during the day's trip through the dealer's den. Nope! *looks around suspiciously* (I don't think they noticed)
But seriously, one of the other big reasons I bought the tail that I did was due to the particular shade of red the fur was. Like, oh! This is the perfect shade for a potential future Ryker suit someday.
After putting that on, I made my way down to the pin trading panel and made several trades, like way more than I was imagining I would end up trading. Good trades though, really happy with the stuff I got!
Ending up going straight from that to the Colorado furs meet and got to learn a little bit more about local furry events and connections before heading off toward D&D again.
Session two was a lot more combat heavy. After landing the final blow against the kracken, the ship turned into a floating, moving dungeon on the high seas. We ventured below deck, fighting monsters and saving our fellow passengers from the monsters that had taken up residence in the transformed halls of the ship. That session ended with a fight against a demi-kracken down in the ship's magitech engine room that had caused the ship to turn into a dungeon in the first place. Turns out putting a dungeon boss monster inside the engine of a ship has consequences.
Not quite sure how I ended up being the one to also land the final blow on this kracken too. (It did nearly kill me though, had real low health by the end of that fight.)
Had so much fun playing that I planned to pick up the book at their table the following day (since the table had closed for the day by the time we were done.)
Ended up being a slightly earlier exit that night, not any late night panels that I absolutely HAD to go to over getting home and sleeping.
Day 3: Sunday
Started off this day at the con going beelining for the Heartleaf Games table to buy the book. Looking forward to reading through that later! Afterward went to a Christian Furry Fellowship panel. Had some burning curiosity that needed satiating. Turned out to be a really good discussion!
Afterward met up with a mutual over on bluesky and wound up talking the day away with them talking their ear off about Pikmin. I tend to be pretty shy and bad about starting a conversation, but once you get me going, I turn into a yapper. Talked so much of the day away that the only other thing I did that day was go to the closing ceremonies before leaving.
Didn't win the fursuit charity raffle, as expected. The odds are rarely in my favor. But it was worth a shot and the money went toward the charity. I forgot what its called, probably should have written it down at some point, but it was like a shelter for little itty bitty kittens. (They brought a few and they were in fact the most adorably sweet little kittens I had ever seen.)
Conclusions
Going into this con, my main goals were to go for the whole weekend, make new friends, and learn more about my local furry community, and I think I succeeded quite well!
Denfur 2025 was a great time, and I'm excited to go again next year! Maybe next time I'll bring some caffeine so I can get through all the late night panels without passing out from exhaustion.
Sounds like a great con glad you had a great one
The Curtis Storytelling Den
~curtisleroythewriterlion
Ugh! That sounds like a total blast! I went to a furcon last year - but sadly, I work weekends so I always get to places later than expected. It was cool to see everything! …Then it closed down lmao. DenFur sounds awesome tho!!
RykerUnified
~ryker-wolf
OP
I don't usually get weekends either, I just had to request it waaaaaaay ahead of time, especially since it was a holiday weekend (Labor Day). Definitely want to go to more, budget permitting.
