Pawsome

Pawsome is an annual residential convention held in the southwest of England and it is first and foremost a furry convention, in the traditional sense. The difference here is that we have taken the dress & costume code of some US cons like Midwest Fur Fest, and imported it to the UK for the first time.

Our 2024 event schedule included furry convention staples such as opening and closing ceremonies, dance nights with DJs, educational workshops on various subjects, critter crufts, board-games, fashion show and nerf battles. We hosted meets and showcases for related communities such as pup-play, pony-play, little furs, and rubber / inflatable creatures of all kinds. We held an epic Nerf-gun battle that promises to become a Pawsome tradition, and some people sang very badly into a karaoke machine and we cheered them anyway. The "Critter Crufts" agility course showed off costumes' manoeuverability - or lack of it - and at the fashion show we admired outfits from expensive custom fursuits to a simple pup-hood and fishnets. Commercial dealers offered their wares in our Den, and attendees bought and sold second-hand goods at the Bring and Buy Sale. Several people were rolled around as giant inflatable blueberries. And each day of the convention was brought to a close with a bedtime story read by the Convention Chair from his armchair in the lounge.

Pawsome is known for its "You Do You" costume policy. As long as it doesn't offend other attendees (who tend to be broadminded), or upset the hotel (who have seen a lot before), we don't like to tell people what to wear. Since this is a furry convention, costumes with an animal connection are encouraged, but this can be interpreted quite broadly. Full and partial fursuits are very welcome, of course, but we also like to see all the other ways that people can express their inner animal. We follow the typical furry rule against clothing made from real animal fur, but otherwise we don't discriminate against particular materials.

Bowden Hall, Gloucester