Gateway FurMeet (GFM) 2026 is scheduled for Oct 16-18, 2026 in St. Louis, United States. The announced theme is 10th Birthday!. Guest of honor information lists DragonMelde. The charity partner is St. Louis Pet Rescue.
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From attendees
St. Louis sits at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in central Missouri:
Curated stays near Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, St. Louis, United States.
Gateway FurMeet 2025 drew 1,288 attendees to St. Louis for its magical-themed weekend. The convention raised over $19,000 for Friends of the Pet Adoption Center.
Historical data and growth track record
See how this convention grew over time.
| Year | Dates | Theme | Attendance | Charity Raised | Guest(s) of Honor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2027 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | None Announced |
2026 | Oct 16-18 | 10th Birthday! | TBA | (St. Louis Pet Rescue) | DragonMelde |
2025 | Oct 3-5 | Magical Menagerie | 1,288 | $19,254.74(Friends of the Pet Adoption Center) | Savaj |
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3 quirks & policies that don't fit the highlights grid.
Cardinal Clash: a 1v1 single-elimination dance bracket
Gateway runs two separate dance competitions alongside its main dance program. The headline format is Cardinal Clash, a 1v1 single-elimination bracket capped at sixteen dancers. Prelims are a showcase round where five dancers perform back-to-back for 30 seconds each to random song assignments, no advance reveal, no fursuit requirement. The top sixteen advance to bracket finals, where each battle is two alternating 30 to 45-second rounds to the same song, judged on dynamics, originality, personality, execution, and response to music and opponent. Ties trigger a third-song runoff.
Notarized parental consent for unaccompanied minors
Gateway's `/minor-forms` policy goes one step further than the typical signed-PDF model. The parental permission form must be notarized in two specific scenarios: when a 17-year-old attends without a parent or legal guardian present, and when any minor under 18 is supervised by an adult who is not their parent or guardian. Both cases require a notary public attestation, not just a parental signature.
Day passes do not unlock until early registration closes
Gateway's 2026 day-badge release is engineered against walk-ins: single-day passes ($45-$50) do not go on sale until September 19, the day AFTER the early-bird weekend cutoff at 11:59 PM on September 18. The structure forces a binary choice, pre-register at the cheaper weekend rate or wait until late-window day badges open with no overlap to undercut early sponsors. The Sponsor t-shirt is also only guaranteed for pre-reg, not at-door buyers. Refund and badge-rollover requests close October 25.
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