Palmetto Anthro Weekend exists to give southeastern furries and South Carolina furries locally, a safe space to connect and socialize at a convention made with us in mind, finally!
That is the Palmetto Anthro Collective answering its own FAQ question, "Why does Palmetto Anthro Weekend exist?", on the site for a convention that will run 4 to 8 February 2027 at the Crowne Plaza Greenville. The word doing the work in that sentence is the last one. South Carolina has furmeets, and it has furries turning up at anime and comic conventions, but it has never had a furry convention of its own. In February it gets one.
The origin story the Palmetto Anthro Collective tells is unusually specific. In September 2024, two furry vendors trading under the names PeachyLightz and BajaWerewolf were working South Carolina anime and comic conventions when they noticed the same thing over and over: there were a lot of furries walking past their tables, and most of them had no idea the others existed.
The collective was founded in January 2025, after a furmeet aboard the USS Yorktown, the retired aircraft carrier moored at Mount Pleasant, drew about twenty people through a Charleston meet-up group. Twenty people on an aircraft carrier is not a convention. It was, by the organisers' account, enough to convince them to try for something bigger.
What they did next is the part worth paying attention to. Instead of announcing a convention, they ran a series of deliberately small events under the name Palmetto Fur The Season, which they describe as being "on paper a mini-convention before jumping into the full-scale convention, allowing our staff to make mistakes, grow, and learn, all while operating at a small scale." The second of those drew 117 people in October 2025.
The original plan was three of these events spread across the state. Two things changed it: that 117-person turnout, and trouble finding a venue in Columbia big enough for where the numbers were heading. The board voted unanimously that Greenville would be the home base, and skipped straight to planning a convention.
The hotel is a 202-room, six-storey property about six miles out from downtown Greenville, and the convention is putting everything inside it: a full Dealers Den, a separate commission-focused Artist Alley, panels, DJ sets, a headless lounge with fans and water stations, and a quiet room stocked with a limited number of sensory headphones.
Two programming rooms are confirmed, and the organisers have been plain about their size. Main Events holds 200 or more, Panel Room 1 holds 50 or more, nothing runs in Main Events after 8pm, and every 18-plus panel is scheduled into the smaller room after 9pm. Panel submissions run from 15 August 2026 to 1 January 2027.
The signature event is a Fursuit Runway rather than a fursuit parade. Entrants walk a photo line for judges across five categories, one of which is "Bluest dog," and the convention has gone out of its way to say a fursuit is not required to enter: cosplays, costumes, therian masks and non-traditional furs all qualify. There are two ways in, pre-approval and first-come-first-served, and the organisers are candid that first-come slots might not exist at all because they cannot predict demand for a thing they have never run. A first-ever Fursuit Dance Competition takes applications from 1 September 2026 to 18 January 2027.
Most conventions run a juried vendor selection and leave the criteria to your imagination. Palmetto Anthro Weekend prints the scoring.
Applicants based in South Carolina get three bonus points. North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee get two. Florida and Virginia get one. The stated reason is that the southeast simply does not have many furry events to sell at, so the convention is weighting deliberately toward the region it exists to serve. Dealer tables are $125 for six feet by thirty inches, with registration bought separately, and applications ran 5 to 19 August 2026. The Artist Alley uses smaller three-foot tables, splits its slots half-juried and half first-come-first-served, and opens in late September 2026.
The waitlist is public, but keyed to each applicant's anonymised ID, so you can see the queue and find your own place in it without anyone else being able to identify you. For a first-year convention, publishing both the weighting and the queue is a real choice, and not a common one.
Three things are genuinely open, and it is worth knowing which. The charity partner has not been chosen: the convention's own charity page says only that it is "still hard at work locating a suitable SC charity" local to the Greenville area. Day passes exist for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but no prices are published. The full schedule is not due until mid-January 2027.
Worth knowing about the shape of the weekend: the hotel block runs from a Thursday afternoon check-in to a Monday morning checkout, so this is a long weekend rather than the usual Friday-to-Sunday. Day passes cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is where most of the programming will sit.
A first-year convention is a different proposition from an established one, and the honest version is that nobody knows how many people will show up, including the people running it. What is knowable is the cost, and it is low: a $65 early-bird badge and a $99 room in the building where everything happens is close to the cheapest convention weekend in the region. The organisers say they hold the lowest contracted rate available that weekend, with no prepayment, a $25 nightly deposit and free cancellation up to 24 hours before check-in.
Getting there is straightforward. Greenville-Spartanburg International (GSP) is about nine miles out, and the hotel runs a free shuttle from 6am to 11pm that will collect you from the terminal if you phone ahead. The Amtrak station is seven miles away and served by the same shuttle. Parking is free and covers RVs and trailers, which is not something most convention hotels say out loud.
If this would be your first convention, our first con survival guide covers the things that are obvious only in hindsight, and the con budgeting guide is worth a read before you commit, because the badge is rarely the expensive part. Our full Palmetto Anthro Weekend convention guide carries the complete registration ladder, room block terms and travel detail. If you want something in the Carolinas sooner, Carolina Furfare runs each October about two hours north in Hickory.
When and where is Palmetto Anthro Weekend 2027?
Palmetto Anthro Weekend runs 4 to 8 February 2027 at the Crowne Plaza Greenville, 851 Congaree Road, Greenville, South Carolina. The theme is "Fur In Love," a Valentine's theme tied to the convention's early-February slot. The hotel block opens for a Thursday afternoon check-in and runs to a Monday morning checkout, and day passes are sold for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Is this really South Carolina's first furry convention?
It is the first full furry convention held in the state. South Carolina has had furmeets and a series of small mini-conventions called Palmetto Fur The Season, run by the same organisation as a deliberate practice run, the second of which drew 117 people in October 2025. Palmetto Anthro Weekend 2027 is the first time the state hosts a multi-day convention with a dealers den, programming tracks and a hotel room block.
How much does it cost to attend?
General registration is $65 early bird, rising to $80 after 1 November 2026. Sponsor is $125 early bird and $150 after, and Super Sponsor is $250 early bird and $300 after, limited to ten slots. Two premium tiers sit above those: a single $1,000 "King of the Event" badge that puts your character on the convention's badge art and includes a comped guest, and five $1,250 slots covering five years of membership. Day passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday exist but have not been priced publicly.
Can minors attend Palmetto Anthro Weekend?
Yes. All ages are admitted, but a minor must have a registered parent or guardian present at all times. Attendees aged 16 or 17 may attend alone only if they provide a printed, signed consent form from the convention. All minors receive a specialty minor badge and are barred from any programming rated 18 and over. Separately, the hotel requires anyone checking into a room in the block to be at least 21.
How much are the hotel rooms?
Rooms in the convention block start at $99 a night before tax, which the organisers estimate at about $13.07 per night for a real total near $112. There is no prepayment required, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before check-in, and a $25 per night security deposit applies. The organisers state they have contracted the lowest rate available that weekend. The block covers a king room with a sleeper sofa and a two-double room that sleeps four.
Do I need a fursuit to take part in the Fursuit Runway?
No. The convention has explicitly opened the runway to cosplays, costumes, therian masks and non-traditional furs alongside fursuits. Entries are judged across five categories, and there are two routes in: a pre-approval application, which gets you an emailed timeslot before the convention, and a first-come-first-served route the organisers warn may not have any slots left, since this is the first time they have run the event and cannot predict demand.
Photo credit and removal: The key art in this post is by the Palmetto Anthro Collective and the lobby photograph is the Crowne Plaza Greenville's, both reproduced here with credit and a link back to the pages they were published on. If the Palmetto Anthro Collective or the hotel would like either image removed, contact us and we will take it down on request, no questions asked. Same standing rule for everyone whose work we feature.
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