Anthrocon 2026 is almost here, and the signs will soon be unmistakable.
The four-day convention, held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, will return to the region from Thursday through Sunday. Upwards of 18,500 furries — fans and creators of anthropomorphic animal characters — are expected to take over Downtown. This year, the convention also marks a major milestone as it celebrates its 20th year of being hosted in Pittsburgh.
“You go up and down Liberty Avenue and Penn Avenue, and you see the windows where people have drawn things,” said John “K.P.” (Kuddlepup) Cole, Anthrocon’s public outreach director. “Merchants with signs saying, ‘We heart Anthrocon, we love the furries. Please come in. Furry special, Anthrocon special.’ ”
Cole, a “paw”peteer and fursuiter, started out attending Anthrocon in 1999, when the convention was hosted in Albany, N.Y. Originally a room party (an unofficial, fan-run gathering in a single hotel room), Anthrocon was officially founded in 1997 as Albany Anthrocon. It took place in Valley Forge, Pa., then in Philadelphia at the Adams Mark Hotel before the hotel was unexpectedly sold in 2004.
Among fans, the story goes that when Visit Pittsburgh approached Anthrocon chairman and chief organizer Dr. Samuel “Uncle Kage” Conway about relocating to Pittsburgh, the native Philadelphian jokingly replied, “I really don’t want my convention moving to Mordor,” a dark land in the “Lord of the Rings” stories.
“He had images of the old way that Pittsburgh used to be,” Cole said. “(But) when we came and visited Pittsburgh for the first time, we knew it was a perfect fit. And it has kind of become a second home to all of us.”
Twenty years later, Anthrocon has become one of Pittsburgh’s most recognizable annual events, sometimes synonymous with the city itself. Growing into one of the world’s largest furry gatherings, Anthrocon consistently ranks as one of Pittsburgh’s most lucrative annual conventions, generating nearly $22 million in direct visitor spending last year and more than $100 million since moving to the city in 2006. Anthrocon also supports a local nonprofit each year — this year, it’s J and J Farms Animal Sanctuary in Saxonburg — and has raised up to $100,000 for regional organizations, including dog sanctuaries and cat rescues.
“It’s been a very symbiotic relationship, and just as the Pittsburgh economy has grown with Anthrocon’s help, Anthrocon has grown as well,” Cole said.
Anthrocon 2025 was its largest-ever event, with a record 18,357 attendees, and Cole expects they may surpass that number this year. Typically held over the July 4 weekend, organizers are planning for an especially busy Anthrocon as Saturday’s fursuit parade and block party dovetail with America 250 celebrations.
The impact is more than economic, and after 20 years, attendees have embraced Pittsburgh just as the city has come to embrace the community, art and spectacle Anthrocon brings.
Prior to 2015, Anthrocon’s annual fursuit parade (invented at the convention) took place inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center — along with the event’s panels, Dealers Room filled with artwork and merchandise, and live performances like a fursuit dance competition.
But both the parade and public interest in it had grown so large that “we decided we couldn’t just have it inside the building,” Cole said. “It was decided to take it out onto the street and share it with the city.”
Today, the parade draws more than 5,000 people who watch attendees march in full-body animal costumes along 10th Street and Penn Avenue, followed by the annual Anthrocon Block Party.
Pittsburgh businesses have also honored the furries with long-standing traditions, discounts and food specials.
Fernando DeCarvalho, who owned and operated Fernando’s Cafe on Liberty Avenue from 2003 until 2014, famously transformed it into “Furryland Cafe” every summer. According to Cole, at an early Anthrocon, a man was harassing attendees at the cafe.
“Fernando came out and said, ‘These are my customers, these are my friends, leave them alone,’ ” Cole recalled.
The man got upset and threw a rock at DeCarvalho’s head, fracturing his skull. “The attendees of Anthrocon never forgot that.”
In 2012, as Fernando’s Cafe faced debt and possible closure, Anthrocon attendees and fans raised $23,000 to help DeCarvalho stay in business, making national news. Though the cafe has since become a Pizza Parma location, the restaurant keeps up the tradition with sticker displays for Anthrocon, continuing a dog bowl special — with food served in a plastic dog bowl rather than on a plate — and providing a safe, open-minded space.
Starbucks inside the Westin Hotel Pittsburgh — the primary lodging spot for Anthrocon attendees — created a special “Furryccino” drink more than 10 years ago, a favorite among convention staffers. Though the recipe changes year to year, the usually-pink frappuccino drink stays on theme with fruity flavors, whipped cream and sprinkles. Cole also cited Primanti Bros. as a perennial Anthrocon favorite.
Those wanting to take part in other public Anthrocon festivities can catch screenings of “furry-friendly” films at the Harris Theater, with Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973) and “Robot Dreams” (2023) showing Friday through Sunday. For fans of dance battles like the ones at Anthrocon, INSTINCT, a nationwide one-on-one freestyle dance competition, will take place at Peirce Studio, inside the Trust Arts Education Center in Downtown’s Cultural District. Anthrocon chairman Dr. Samuel “Uncle Kage” Conway is also expected to perform at City Winery Pittsburgh, Cole said.
“It’s a very creative community, and I think that goes very much hand in hand with just how artistic the community in Pittsburgh is,” Cole said. “They play off each other so well, and there’s more interest coming in from the arts community.”
As Anthrocon continues to expand, the organization is hoping to bring musical performances and other events to more city venues, including the newly opened Arts Landing in Downtown. The 500-room Loews Hotel planned for the convention center may also help accommodate more attendees in the future.
But for Cole, Anthrocon’s legacy in Pittsburgh isn’t represented by attendance records, but a single interaction.
One year, two purple German shepherd characters (or fursonas), Lav Shep and Der Shep — a duo affectionately known as Lavender, a play on “Lav ‘n’ Der” — were approached by a mother and child as they walked down Penn Avenue in Downtown.
The child “walked right up to Lav, who was the taller one, and tugged on his leg to get his attention,” Cole recalled. “So he looked down in costume, and he said, ‘Oh, you’re cute.’ And she looked up at him with a big grin and said, ‘Yeah, but you’re cuter.’ The smile on the family’s face and child’s face — that interaction was so pure,” Cole said.
“I think that over the last 20 years, people in Pittsburgh have come to find joy in the fact that, for one magical weekend, walking, talking cartoon animals are real, and they exist in the heart of Downtown,” he said.
If you go
When: July 2-5
Where: Downtown Pittsburgh
More information: anthrocon.org.