*€25.000 subsidies for self-taught designers* Open Call Self-taught Designer * NL: www.stimuleringsfonds.nl/subsidies/op... * EN: www.stimuleringsfonds.nl/en/grants/op... Deadline: 25 February 2026 Further details available through the links. We can offer guidance. Good luck!

After a quiet 2025, Stichting Otterdam is back! * Check out plans and goals for 2026 at otterdam.org. * We're seeking a new secretary and treasurer for the board. See otterdam.org/get-involved.... It's a great time to get involved!

The Stichting Otterdam financial report for 2025 is now available -- see otterdam.org. It was a quiet year, but we're in good shape and looking forward to developing new programs in 2026. Announcements coming soon!

We've done an inventory of our supplies and could use a bit here and there to ensure we have what we need for the young furries. Check it out. Grab something or share the list. Thanks :-) The MoFs www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

We hosted the first Furry Studies conference last year at the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival. The second was in Tacoma, Washington. Enjoy!

On September 12 and 13 the new edition of Cross Comix Festival will be held in De Doelen in Rotterdam. We are looking for people to help us out! 📅 12 + 13 September 📍De Doelen, Rotterdam ✏️ Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Vd3tB1qXm8IEnTcUll_CxR4We5PQpECsXOZjcR4KVzQ/preview

In Pittsburgh around Anthrocon? Check out this groundbreaking gallery show! It's very much in line with Stichting Otterdam's goals to make furry art and culture more accessible. www.room-party.com Organised in part by Auryn, a furry filmmaker (www.rukusmovie.com) who was involved in OFAF.

We're pleased to release Stichting Otterdam's 2024 Financial Report, linked from otterdam.org. We produced the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival and Otterdance 5, and finished the year in good shape with over €7.500 in the bank. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible!

Had a lot of fun at @otterdam.bsky.social's Otterdance yesterday! The vibes were good and the crowd was furry! Thanks for the organisation and Volundiertjes for making this possible! Werewolf: @yutalemur.bsky.social Collie: @HakiFang

Thanks to everyone who came out to Otterdance 5 tonight! For me, it felt truly special. Many thanks to the DJs; volundiertjes; @Trixinity for taking the lead; and @techwolf12 for keeping the org running smoothly. Sleep well!

Auditorium talks from the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival are now available! Playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... List of talks: otterdam.art/schedule-sat... Stichting Otterdam YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@stichtingot...

Thanks to Gallen for posting video clips from the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival! www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1nD... Have you posted about OFAF? Let us know in @OtterdanceChat on Telegram. Or upload them here (please make a folder with your name): drive.google.com/drive/folder....

The 45-minute town hall recording from last night has been posted! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN8L...

OTTERDANCE 5: ADVANCE T-SHIRT SALES STOP THIS SUNDAY! You can reserve a shirt to be picked up at the event on 14 December. But only through Sunday (17 Nov)! To reserve a shirt, you must buy a ticket. No shirts will be mailed. otterdance.club/tickets

Join us at a public Stichting Otterdam meeting: - 14 Nov, 2000 (CET) - On YouTube: youtube.com/live/NN8LgtO... - Agenda: docs.google.com/document/d/1... Want to comment during the YouTube stream? Subscribe to our channel (www.youtube.com/@StichtingOt...) before 0800, 14 November.

Were you at OFAF? We’d love to hear what you thought of it! Please respond to forms.gle/k5N831RnixLi....

IT'S ALMOST TIME! Ticket sales for Otterdance 5 will begin at 1900 CET on Wednesday, 6 November. Some tips: - Tickets will automatically become available at otterdance.club/tickets. - Alternate page: tickets.otterdam.org/otterdam/ams... - Place to chat about it: t.me/OtterdanceChat (1/3...)

Recovered from the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival (and Reffurence)? So are we! Sort of. And we have statistics: - Sold out! Had to cut off tix at 400. - 301 checked in - 34 tails sewn in the youth space - 49 t-shirts sold - 54 wooden souvenir badges (1/2... continues)

Attendees at the first Furry Studies Conference. Final count: 15 in person, 31 online. (Photo: @GorgoTheHusky)

An update! There's too much to say in 500 characters... read it on Telegram at t.me/Otterdam/86. In short: Things are going great, thanks to all involved, the fun's beginning!

Stats on the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival: - Free entry tickets: 211 - Furry Studies Conference attendees: 24 - Volundiertjes: 24 - Raised for our charity already: €140 - T-shirts ordered: 38 - Souvenir badges ordered: 54 It's happening! Join us: otterdam.art

Want some OFAF flyers for your meetup? We got 'em! These flyers now appear throughout Rotterdam and Schiedam. And we got extras. Having a meetup? Know of a spot they should go? DM t.me/JackNewhorse. (Posters also available: Leftovers will be sold at the event.)

Volundiertjes needed for OFAF! 40 shifts are filled, but 10 are open. Please help: otterdam.art/volunteer/ Shifts are two hours each. Help mostly needed in the Headless Lounge and VR space. You get a t-shirt, 2 drink tokens, and a personalised souvenir badge. Thanks -- see you there!

This four-meter-wide backdrop will be at OFAF! Many thanks to Gorgo (gorgophotos.nl), who'll be on hand to help out and shoot pro-quality images. (Art by Clyde Kopernik, creator of the graphic novel "A Town Called Collegeville", www.dogpoison.industries)

30-minute talks at OFAF! 🕒 1300-1700, Saturday, 19 October 📍 Nieuwe Instituut 🎫 FREE! 1300: De otter wijst de weg; Stichting Otterstation Nederland (our charity) 1330-1500: Furry art 1500-1700: Furry culture & charity auction Full schedule at otterdam.art/schedule-sat...

OFAF starts with a FURSUIT PARADE through Rotterdam! Already 37 fursuiters & 21 helpers have signed up. 🕒 1000-1200 📍 Starts and ends at Nieuwe Instituut 🎫 FREE! Headless Lounge opens at 0900. Get free tix in advance at otterdam.art/tickets to prevent a bottleneck.

Video of wooden souvenir OFAF badges being laser-cut and -engraved.

Badge designs for the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival - Peach-tinted: Attendees - Blue/yellow: Volundiertjes - Wooden souvenir: Available for €10 from otterdam.art/tickets The last is only available until 1 October, so get yours now!

Meet our Dance Battle emcee/organiser! James Parnell is from the "ballroom" scene, with roots in US Black and Latino "drag balls". He runs events such as PLAYGROUND and teaches "Old Way" vogue style at SKVR. raeparnell.hotglue.me skvr.nl/cursussen/da... Compete: forms.gle/B7UzaR2MMcX2...

We unfortunately had to cancel the BBQ on Sunday, 20 October. Try as we might, the pieces just didn't fall into place. Refunds have been issued to everybody who bought a ticket. No other part of their Otterdam Furry Arts Festival orders has been affected. We look forward to seeing you at OFAF!

Ready for the hottest time around? Come to OFAF's dance battle! 🕒 Saturday, 19 Oct, 1900-2100 📍 Auditorium, Nieuwe Instituut 🎫 €10, otterdam.art/tickets Hurry! Tix are limited. Participate: Apply at forms.gle/B7UzaR2MMcX2... before 14 Oct. Prizes: €100, 50, and 25.

Extra event! "New Furry Cinema" worm.org/production/n... 🕒 2030 on Tue, 15 Oct 📍 WORM 🎫 €10, €7,50 w/code "furrylovefriendz" (10 tix only) * Furry shorts * "Rukus", "A... wonderful evocation of adolescence" -Le Monde * Filmmaker Q&A CW: Suicide, drug use, depression.

Meet Sir Addy de Jongh, founder of Stichting Otterstation Nederland, which successfully reintroducing the otter to the country after it had become locally extinct. www.stichting-otterstation-nederland.nl He's our charity for this year and will give a talk at 1pm on Saturday.

Don't miss the world's first Furry Studies conference! Friday, 18 Oct., with scholars from the US, UK, Canada, China, Australia, and Japan. furrystudies.org Topics include: - Being furry in China and Japan - Furry video games - Furry art in a broader context - Fursonas - Furry history

We'll show the 90-minute doc "The Fandom" at OFAF, featuring guest Joe Strike (Author of "Furry Nation") as a voice of furry history. Come meet him! He'll speak on Saturday at 1500 and keynotes the Furry Studies Conference. - thefandomfilm.com - joestrike.com - furrystudies.org - otterdam.art

OFAF is coming! In 5 weeks, a furry event unlike any other: * Public * 3 days of events * With city gov't support * At a major arts institution * FREE! (mostly) Check it out, register, and forward this. Be a part of furry history! (otterdam.art, 18-20 October, Rotterdam)

Meet Joe Strike, a journalist who's been in the furry fandom since 1988. He's the author of Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture (2017) and Furry Planet: A World Gone Wild (2023). He'll give an insider's talk on furry history. A rare opportunity! (otterdam.art)

"Moms of Furries" (US) are coming! mofurries.com They've hosted comfortable, supervised spaces for under-18s at US furry cons since 2018. They'll tell us about it and will help run our youth space, "The Den". You can help! www.gofundme.com/f/support-th...

Love for furry art is universal. So we're promoting OFAF through Uitagenda Rotterdam (www.uitagendarotterdam.nl/agenda/otter...). And 3.000 of these flyers will be in horeca throughout Rotterdam and Schiedam. (Want copies for your business or meetup? Let us know!)

Like this great Otterdam Furry Arts Festival 2024 t-shirt? Order now! Pre-orders end this Sunday, 15 September. We'll make a few extra, but the only way to be sure you won't miss out is by ordering at otterdam.org/tickets. (€25 + BTW = €30,25)

Our guest artist is Sterric (sterric.com), "visual storyteller" and creator of "De Vloek van Rood". She’ll draw, chat, and present “'Help! My animals never shut up!', My career as a comic book artist." Presented thanks to Cross Comix (crosscomix.nl) (otterdam.art, 18-20 October, Rotterdam)

Announcing the OFAF Artist's Alley! * MiesdoCreations * Skulldog * Galawookie * Thlayli’s Den * Arctis Ira * Blue Wisp * Starry Ocelot * Torrn * Karpour (& Henrieke) * Spooky Lyle See otterdam.art/artists-alley/ and get yourself something great! Saturday, 19 Oct, 1300-1700. SFW only.

The Otterdam Furry Arts Festival is in high gear! So much is happening, we’ll post (almost) every day until OFAF on: * Telegram: t.me/Otterdam * Mastodon: mastodon.furrycon.social/@otterdance * Bsky: bsky.app/profile/otte... Watch the skies! (otterdam.art, 18-20 October, Rotterdam)

The Furry Studies conference has released its schedule for Friday, 18 October! Topics include art, identity, representation, and history from worldwide academics. Keynote by Joe Strike, author of "Furry Planet". Schedule and registration at furrystudies.org. €75 in person (w/lunch), €10 remote.

Want to be in the Artist's Alley at the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival? Hurry up! Applications close this Sunday (18 August) at 2359. - Apply: forms.gle/WntJeJEZPdgQ... - SFW only - Free, but limited space - Will be 1200-1700, 19 October in Rotterdam - Event: otterdam.art

Rotter the Otter is back for the Otterdam Furry Arts Fest! Drawn by Clyde Kopernik (dogpoison.industries). Order your t-shirt now for pickup at OFAF, and say hi to Rotter! (Tickets/t-shirt orders at otterdam.art/tickets; Artist's Alley application at forms.gle/WntJeJEZPdgQ...)

OFAF's Artist Alley! Apply at forms.gle/WntJeJEZPdgQ... until 18 August. * AA is Saturday, 19 October 2024 at at Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. * SFW art only: (It's a family-friendly event.) * We'll respond by 26 August 2024. Questions? Contact @SpookiePookie on Telegram.

OTTERDAM FURRY ARTS FESTIVAL TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE! otterdam.art 18-20 October 2024 Rotterdam, The Netherlands The first Furry Studies conference, a fursuit parade, Artist’s Alley, VR exhibit, youth creativity space, BBQ, and much more. Tix FREE, hostel beds available. Be the animal you are!

OTTERDAM FURRY ARTS FESTIVAL TICKETS Available Sunday, 28 July, 8pm (NL) otterdam.art The Otterdam Furry Arts Festival ties together furry culture, arts, and academia. Tickets are FREE, but you must register. Beds available, €50-€56/night. Be the animal you are!

Happy birthday... to us! One year ago, Christiaan and I signed the papers bringing Stichting Otterdam into existence. Eagerly looking forward to the next year.