Members of the “Furry” community will host what they describe as a family-friendly convention in a Tennessee state park beginning Friday and ending Saturday.
“If you enjoy spending time in nature AND the furry fandom, this is the trip for you! Woods Flock is a a community that holds our annual Spring mini-con at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee (USA),” says an event invitation by a group called Woods Flock. “Participants will have a plethora of outdoor, crafty, and fun activities to choose from during their stay at our family-friendly camp.”
A website called Furscience explains the Furry community.
The term furry describes a diverse community of fans, artists, writers, gamers, and role players. Most furries create for themselves an anthropomorphized animal character (fursona) with whom they identify and can function as an avatar within the community. Some furries wear elaborate costumes (called fursuits) or paraphernalia such as animal ears or tails, or represent themselves as anthropomorphic animals in online communities such as Second Life.
The Furry community is often associated with the sexual fetishization of animals, too.
Vendors can sign up to sell art or other items at the convention, some of which are expected to be sexually graphic.
“All goods on display should be rated for general audiences,” the event page says. “Mature or explicit artwork may be kept in a binder available on request to adult patrons only.”
The director of Woods Flock is a woman named PawTory, and uses they/them pronouns.
“Tory has been part of the fandom since growing up in the 90s with Disney and Redwall. They enjoy creating furry art, especially pottery featuring creatures of all kinds,” according to the Tory’s biography on the organization’s website. “They started Woods Flock with the help of other Staff in order to bring more outdoor social opportunities to the community.”
The group has 12 staff members, including a creative director, chef, security guard, and a community manager.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
Photo “Woods Flock” by Woods Flock – Furry Camp & Outdoor Events.
