Midwest FurFest 2023 was an amazing Snow Day, but now in fine Chicago fashion the sidewalks are cleared, the streets are plowed, and the street parking spaces are filled with patio furniture.
This was a tremendous year for Midwest FurFest as we welcomed a staggering 15,547 of our friends to Rosemont. We partnered with 12 hotels, more than ever before, and for the first time ever introduced the FurFest transportation network, with buses running continuously from early in the morning until late at night.
Our 2023 charity was Live Like Roo, which provides support and financial assistance to families whose pets face cancer diagnoses. The generosity shown by our attendees was amazing, including:
Charity Table Jar: $7,414
Credit Card/Venmo Donations: $7,093
Live and Silent Auctions: $12,134
Dealer Donations: $15,000
Programming Event Donations: $2,084
Hyatt Regency O’Hare Donation from Red Bar sales: $659
Donations made at Closing Ceremonies including staff matches: $20,606
Anonymous Donations: $20,769
To all of this, our parent nonprofit corporation, Midwest Furry Fandom, Inc., was happy to add an additional donation of $100,000 for a grand total of $185,758. This is going to make a huge difference in so many lives, both for animals and for humans, over the coming years.
As a reminder, our photographers took thousands of photos during the convention. It will take them a few weeks to process them but keep an eye on flickr.com/furfest, where they will be posted as soon as they are ready!
We are already hard at work on Midwest FurFest 2024 and can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, December 5th through 8th, 2024. Rumor has it that a heist is in the works! What's the plan? What's your role? What are we after? Find out by joining us again next year for 'The Great FurFest Heist'!