Birfday Otter Update 13SEP2026

HI! hugs

There are three (3) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
– Icey Lynx is forty-five Today! (Sunday, September 13th) Happy Birfday!
– Joe Guy will be seventy on Thurday (September 17th), And
– Ragz_ will be forty-three, also on Thursday.
Many Happy Returns of your day!

And a heads-up for Loaf Cat’s birfday next Sunday (September 20th) and for Tristan Whitetaur’s birfday next Monday (September 21st).

On the Local Furry Events Desk, this Friday, September 18th, will be Bark In The Dark 4.0: 2 Skool 4 Kool from 9:00 OM until 2:30 AM at the Geary Avenue Warehouse Project, 209 Geary Ave, Toronto. Dancers nineteen and older will enjoy DJ 66nix, DJ Azalea, DJ Juno, DJ Kandi Kat, featuring Alissa Brink. Tickets have sold out and the refund period has passed, but the waitlist is still open.
– tickets – https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bark-in-the-dark-4-2-skool-4-kool-tickets-1996378418591
– https://t.me/BarkInTheDarkAnnouncements/334
– https://www.Barkinthedark.gay/ OR https://bsky.app/barkinthedark.gay

I’ve heard that there are still no firm plans to Furry-bomb the Hamilton Comic Con on Saturday, September 19th or 20th at the Hamilton Convention Centre, 1 Summers Lane, Hamilton (across Main St W from City Hall). There will almost certainly be a Furry face or two there both days.

Also on September 19th, Domino will host a Furry Contingent at the Waterloo Royal Medieval Faire from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Waterloo Park West, Waterloo, Ontario. Fursuits and costumes are welcome, but SFW only, as kids and families will be there. Group photos will be at 1:00 PM, followed by a group dinner before the Lumen Festival Furmeet.
– https://t.me/Torontowo/75003

The Lumen Festival Furmeet will also be on September 19th at 75 King Street South, Waterloo, from after the ren faire until 11:00 PM. Fursuiters and spotters are invited; no kink gear, please.
– more info – https://events.furryeventsontario.ca/evthub/detail/48/1789858800000

And in furmeet news…

Smoke In The Smoke #12 will be on Saturday, September 26th from 1:00 PM until 9:00 PM at E.T. Seton Park, 73 Thorncliffe Park Drive, Toronto. Tickets are mandatory and they are ON SALE NOW! (At the time of writing there were 31 left.) Check in at the blue tent when you arrive. Please be nineteen or older.
– more info – https://t.me/smokeinthesmoke1/40625 OR https://t.me/FurryEventsOntario/47/2781
– tickets – https://app.furbox.club/events/cmtub8ewi02fox3cvkdaxn5h9

Northpaw Events and Protozoa Party present Feral Frequency 5: Ecto’s Cave Halloween Party on Friday, October 30th, from 7:30 PM until 2:30 AM at The Supermarket, 268 Augusta Avenue, Toronto. Tickets will go on sale for Trans Furries on Friday September 18th at noon. General admission tickets go on sale on Sunday, September 20th at noon. Tickets are more expensive because it’s a more complex thing. Discount codes are available; ask @cassiapaws or @mr66nix. There will be no tickets at the door this time, you must buy in advance. DJs for this dance include DJ PuppyWuppy, Disco Warp and DJ Tyco, plus local talent like NovaxDJ, DangerQ, VideoSpit, 66nix and weathergirl.
– more info – https://t.me/feralfrequency/225
– tickets – https://ectoscave.eventbrite.ca

Tickets are ON SALE NOW for SPIKE!party on October 2nd from 5:00 PM until 1:00 AM at The Wych, 1150 Davenport Eoad, TorontoYou must have a ticket to attend. Their Dress Code is: keep your naughty bits hid, kid. ;-)
– tickets – https://TAS-Spike.eventbrite.com

SillyCon, Furdance Budapest and Furry Migration all end today (September 13th). Eight Furry conventions begin this week.
– Furgether, September 16th to 20th, Steyr, Austria
– Anthro SoCal, September 18th to 20th, Ontario, California
– Wild North, September 18th to 21st, Chester-le-Street, UK
– Furry Gathering in Vietnam (FurGIV), September 19th, Hanoi, Vietnam
– Wrocławski Furwalk, September 19th, Wroclaw, Poland
– Wroof, September 19th, Wroclaw, Poland
– Furrest City, September 19th to 20th, Cleveland, OH
– Kemoket, September 20th, Japan https://news.furryrefuge.com/kemoket-17-japan

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, September 13th) is a busy day.
– Today is Grandparents Day. As the name suggests, it celebrates grandmothers and grandfathers.
– Today is Firefighters’ National Memorial Day, a Canadian commemoration of firefighters who died trying to save people’s lives and property.
– Today is Roald Dahl Story Day, the celebration of the great children’s author’s birfday. He would have been 110 this year.
– Today is World Sepsis Day. Sepsis is what happens “when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs.” The Global Sepsis Alliance has organized this occasion since 2012 to bring attention to the problem.
– Today is the first day of Living Donation Week. This week encourages people to donate a spare organ (for instance, a kidney or part of a liver) while they’re still alive to somebody who needs a transplant. It ends on the 19th.
– And today is International Chocolate Day, but only in America.

Tomorrow (Monday, September 14th) the Fast of Gedaliah will begin at sunrise; a Jewish fast in memory of Gedaliah ben Ahikam, the rightful governor of Judah after the fall of King Zedekiah and the First Jerusalem Temple. Tomorrow will also be Holy Cross Day, the Christian commemoration of the day in 335 CE when the Constantinian Basilica over the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated. Tomorrow will be Ganesh Chaturthi, the birfday of the Hindu elephant god. And tomorrow will be the first day of Mennonite Heritage Week; it ends on the 20th.

Tuesday (September 15th) will be International Day of Democracy, a UN day to promote and uphold democracy. Tuesday will also be World Engineers Day, a celebration of the role engineers play in technology and society. Tuesday will be Canadian Tire Day, the anniversary of the company’s founding in 1922 (by Alfred and William Billes at Yonge & Gould in Toronto). And Tuesday will be International Dot Day, a celebration of a children’s book by Peter H. Reynolds titled “The Dot”; it’s a day of creativity. (I have not been able to find out why it is celebrated on this date.)

Wednesday (September 16th) will be International Identity Day. “The Identity Day (ID Day) Campaign aims to establish worldwide recognition of 16 September as Identity Day to underscore the fundamental importance of having verifiable proof of identity.” Wednesday will also be International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, also known as Ozone Day. The sun is a deadly laser. The ozone layer is our protective blanket. This is why we want to keep it intact. And Wednesday will be the Feast of St. Joseph of Cupertino. Joseph was a Franciscan friar, known for his piety and occasionally levitating during prayers. He loved the local shepherds and would lead them in catechism classes. He spoke with animals sometimes. Once during harvest, nobody thought to tell Joseph that his shepherds would be too busy to come to class. He arrived to find nothing but sheep in the fields unattended. He called to them in Holy Mary’s name, and they came. He read them the liturgy, and they all responded “Baa!” to each part. When he’d done, they went back to eating grass.

Thursday (September 17th) will be a busy day.
– Thursday will be Engineers Day in Canada (as opposed to World Engineers Day on Tuesday). Several countries have an Engineers Day; in Canada it’s September 17th every year.
– Thursday will be World Patient Safety Day, started in 2019 by the World Health Organization. “This campaign will mobilize patients and their families, health workers, policymakers, academicians, researchers, professional networks and the healthcare industry to speak up! Together, we will raise awareness of the need to formulate policies, create a safe work culture, and provide care where patient safety is a priority.“
– Thursday will be International Fox Day, a celebration of foxes and the roles they play in the wild and even in urban settings. (And in the Furry fandom, of course.)
– Thursday will be International Guinep Day. A guinep is a South American fruit, also called Spanish limes; it’s yellow to salmon orange, high in iron and phosphorus, mildly laxative, and popular in the Caribbean.
– Thursday will be Linux’s Birfday, the third “birfday” that some Linux users observe. On this day in 1991, the first version of the Linux kernel was released. (Linus Torvalds favours this of the four suggested birfdays.)
– And starting on Thursday, A&W is offering Teenburgers for $5. The deal ends on October 7th.

Friday (September 18th) will be World Water Monitoring Day; citizen scientists can test local water sources with a simple test kit. Friday will be International Equal Pay Day, an occasion to encourage equal pay for work of equal value. And Friday will be African Wildcat Day, a tribute to the species from which domestic housecats are descended. (The IUCN lists them as a species of least concern.)

Saturday (September 19th) will be another busy day.
– Saturday will be International Talk Like A Pirate Day. John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur and Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers invented the occasion in 1995, and Dave Barry publicized it. Its purpose is to encourage people to talk like Robert Newton’s rendition of Long John Silver in Disney’s 1950 film, “Treasure Island” (the first live-action film from House of Mouse). Newton’s piratical speech was a highly exaggerated version of his native Cornish accent. Oddly enough, some famous pirate captains might also have been from the UK West Country, including Sir Francis Drake and Blackbeard.
– Thursday will be Batman Day. DC Comics declared this day BECAUSE HE’S BATMAN!!! This year, Batman Day will feature the release of “Batman of Two Worlds.” (and they both look very grumpy)
– Saturday will be International Observe the Moon Night. “…a time to come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts and curious people worldwide. Everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science and exploration, take part in celestial observations, and honour cultural and personal connections to the Moon. We encourage everyone to interpret “observe” broadly! “ — NASA
– Saturday will be World Cleanup Day. “We aim to activate 5% of the world’s population that will catalyze lasting societal change in behaviour around mismanaged waste.”
– Saturday will be Software Freedom Day, a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software.
– Saturday will be International Red Panda Day. Called the world’s cutest mammal, the IUCN lists them as endangered.
– Saturday will be Responsible Dog Ownership Day. Founded by the American Kennel Club, it is an American occasion to encourage owners to be responsible for their dogs. (Thanks to Kliah Mott for suggesting this occasion.)

Here’s a heads-up for next Sunday (September 20th) when Yom Kippur will begin at sunset. Next Sunday will also be the Annual Terry Fox Run and the Feast of St. Eustace, as well as the first day of Gender Equality Week, Sea Otter Awareness Week, Tolkien Week and National Forest Week. And next Monday (September 21st) will be International Day of Peace, Sun Day, World Gratitude Day and World Alzheimer’s Day.

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you’d prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I’ll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which “Jim Smith” to change to “Honking Camel.”) Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it’s my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don’t ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, as long as you own it. (Ask me.)

Nips & cuddles,
— Dee

Birfday Otter Update 06SEP2026

HI! hugs 

There are eight (8) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Ryan Foster is forty-nine Today! (Sunday, September 6th) Happy Birfday! 
- Aeric will be forty-eight tomorrow (Monday, September 7th). 
- ~7~CyanFOX~7~ will be forty, also tomorrow. 
-  Trisuniel will be thirty-one, also tomorrow. 
- Kratsminsch, the Karate Kitten, will have been introduced on FurryMuck thirty-four years ago on Wednesday (September 9th). 
- Neouka will be forty-three on Thursday (September 10th). 
- Seraph’s next birfday will be on Friday (September 11th). And 
- Dark-Paws will be fifty-two on Saturday (September 12th). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And a heads-up for Icey Lynx’s birfday next Sunday (September 13th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, there’s a lot to show you. 

On Wednesday, September 9th, 66nix and weathergirl will host All Paws On Deck 3 from 7:00 PM until midnight at The Wych, 1150 Davenport Rd, Toronto. DJs may come to try out for Northpaw Events dances (Feral Frequency and Tailgate). Bring your own USB for a 30-minute spot on their Pioneer XDJ-XZ; first come, first served. If you want to come and listen to the music for free, you’re also welcome. The Wych serves goth cocktails. 
- https://t.me/c/3481400727/6036 

On Friday, September 11th, Spike Everything will host the monthly BEER!Meet Daystar furmeet starting at 3:00 PM at Mascot Brewery, 37 Advanxe Road, Etobicoke. (It’s about 4 blocks N of The Queensway and 1 block E of Kipling, in the back of the mall.)
- For more info and to RSVP – https://me/Torontowo/75428 
- location - https://www.mapquest.com/ca/ontario/toronto/m8z-2s6/37-advance-rd-43.63351,-79.52766 

On Saturday, September 12th, you’ll find the Niagara Falls Furry Invasion starting at 1:00 PM at the Horseshoe Falls View from Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls, NY. (They communicate exclusively through Fakebook.)
- more information - https://www.facebook.com/events/1642443563834090?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22group%22%7D]%7D 

Camp Conifur begins Saturday, September 12th, and continues until the 14th at Camp Wetaskiwin, Short Hills Provincial Park, St. Catharines, ON. Registration has closed for this event.
- Discussion - https://t.me/CampConifur 
- Website -- https://www.campconifur.ca 
- Registration - https://campconifur.regfox.com/camp-conifur 

Tickets for Smoke In The Smoke #11 will go on sale sometime next week. Details about the meet will be announced at that time.
- Info - https://t.me/FurryEventsOntario/47/2753 

Furnal Equinox is still accepting applications for panels and DJs.
- panels – https://furnalequinox.com/panel-event-submissions 
- DJs - https://furnalequinox.com/dj-applications 

Tickets have sold out for Bark In The Dark, but you can still join the waitlist. Also, Bark In The Dark and Muzzled announced that after sales and donations, this year’s shortfall for the Toronto Pride Parade was only $658. They will auction off a limited print of this year’s YCH banner to make up the difference. 
- tickets - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bark-in-the-dark-4-2-skool-4-kool-tickets-1996378418591 

Furrstein, ursonaCon, IndryRurCon, Anhro New Mexico, Calfurry, Tails And Tornadoes Fur Con, Touffurs, Barkada FurFest, Sigurtà Raduno and FurTheMoment all end today (Sunday, September 6th). Five Furry conventions begin this weekend.
- SillyCon, September 10th to 13th, Russia 
- Furdance Budapest, September 11th to 13th, Budapest, Hungary 
- Furry Migration, September 11th to 13th, Minneapolis, MN 
- Club Animalz Berlin, September 12th, Berlin, Germany 
- SFPF, September 12th, Bournemouth, UK

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, September 6th) marks the Birth of CBC TV; on this day in 1952, the first CBC television station, CBFT in Montreal, began broadcasting. (It was followed two days later by CBLT in Toronto.) And today is also Star Trek Day in Canada; the CTV network aired the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series on this day in 1966, two days earlier than it was supposed to.  (American audiences saw “The Man Trap” on September 8th on NBC.) 

Tomorrow (Monday, September 7th) is Labour Day, a statutory holiday. You should be paid extra for having to work tomorrow. Monday is also International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies; the occasion focuses attention on both the health and climate impacts of air pollution. Tomorrow is World Duchenne Awareness Day, which raises awareness of this form of Muscular Dystrophy, its treatments, and the people who have it. And tomorrow is International Manatee Day; save the manatees. 

Tuesday (September 8th) will be Accession Day, the (4th) anniversary of King Charles III, ruler of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations (that’s us), taking the throne after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away in 2022. Tuesday will also be International Literacy Day, a UNESCO-sponsored event to promote literacy. And Tuesday will be World Ampersand Day, a celebration of the & sign. (Why not?) 

Wednesday (September 9th) will be International Day to Protect Education from Attack; schools are being attacked more often every year, and children’s education is being put in peril. This occasion shows that it is not okay! Wednesday will be International Buy-A-Priest-A-Beer Day; Catholic laity (and Anglicans in some places) are encouraged to buy a round for their local priest. And Wednesday will be the Anniversary of the First Computer Bug. On this day in 1947, computer scientists and engineers at Harvard U. were getting consistent errors from their Mark II computer. They examined the hardware and found a moth in the works. Unexpected errors in computer code have been called “bugs” ever since.

Thursday (September 10th) will be World Suicide Prevention Day; according to the World Health Organization, more than 700,000 people every year kill themselves around the world. And Thursday will be the Feast of St. Nicholas of Tolentino. Nicholas was a vegetarian; he is said to have resurrected a chicken dinner.

On Friday (September 11th), Rosh Hashanah celebrations will begin at sunset; Jewish New Year’s Day will be the start of the year 5787 in their calendar. Friday will also be Cush Hosanna, the Dudeist commemoration of Jeff Bridges announcing that his cancer was in remission (in 2021); a time of relaxation to promote good health and gemutlichkeit. Friday will be Enkutatash, which is New Year’s Day in Ethiopia and Eritrea, also celebrated by Rastafarians. And Friday will be the 25th anniversary of Canada taking in refugees from the September 11th bombing in 2001, when planes were temporarily not allowed to fly over the USA. 

Saturday (September 12th) will be Saragarhi Day, a Sikh commemoration of the Battle of Saragarhi, when 21 Sikh soldiers held out all day against an attack by more than 12,000 Afghan troops before they were finally slaughtered. Saturday will also be Paitishahema Gahambar, a five-day Zoroastrian harvest festival for Spandarmad, the spirit of Earth and Motherhood; it ends on the 16th. Saturday will be World First Aid Day, an invitation to be ready in case of a medical emergency. (Both Furp and Lemonade Coyote were advanced first aid practitioners.) And Saturday will be National Pet Memorial Day in Canada, a commemoration of pets who died before we did.  

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (September 13th). It will be Grandparents Day, Firefighters' National Memorial Day, Roald Dahl Story Day, World Sepsis Day and the first day of Living Donation Week. (In the USA, next Sunday will be International Chocolate Day.) And next Monday (September 14th) will be the Fast of Gedaliah, Holy Cross Day, Ganesh Chaturthi, and the first day of Mennonite Heritage Week. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, as long as you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee

Birfday Otter Update 30AUG2026

HI! hugs

There are five(5) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Stryke Stella’s birfday will be tomorrow (Monday, August 31st). 
- Pouch will be forty-five on Tuesday (September 1st). 
- Iron Raptor will be forty-six on Wednesday (September 2nd). 
- Timber’s birfday will be on Thursday (September 3rd). 
- And Timber’s dog Timber will also celebrate a birfday on Thursday. 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Ryan Foster’s birfday next Sunday (September 6th) and for Aeric’s, ~7~CyanFOX~7~’s and Trisuniel’s birfdays next Monday (September 7th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, we have a busy week! 

Steel City Beasts' next party is today, Sunday, August 30th, from 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM at Ringside!, 324 James Street North, Hamilton. Ringside! is an outdoor, shaded, gazebo-ish thing with a cash bar. It’s wheelchair accessible. There will be music, vendors, a headless lounge, pool table and lounge seating. Your DJs will be Brock, Dodge, Jin and Sugar. At the time of writing, tickets were still available. A few will be available at the door as well.
- more info & video how-to-find - https://t.me/SteelCityBeasts/89 
- tickets – https://ra.co/events/2482218 

Serious Sirus will host a Fan Expo Con-Critters Meet, also on Sunday, August 30th, starting at 1:00 PM at Fan Expo, Room 203 (CosPlay HQ), Toronto Metro Convention Centre, Toronto. Fursuiters, cosplayers, etc are all welcome. There will be a group photo.
- for more info and to RSVP – https://t.me/c/1356340389/21899 

PALS will host an Animal Instinct – After Dark event on Monday, August 31st, from 1:00 PM until 3:00 AM at Oasis Aqualounge, 23 Mutual Street, Toronto. Admission is $100 for couples and solo men; $ 15 for solo women. This event is for pups, furries and anthros. There will be a pool, hot tub and dungeon.
- more info – https://t.me/c/2413479984/378051?single 
- tickets – https://tickets.oasisaqualounge.com/events/90566 

The next Old Spaghetti Factory Monthly Furmeet is scheduled for Wednesday, September 2nd, from 6:30 PM until 10:00 PM at the Old Spaghetti Factory, 54 The Esplanade, Toronto, 416-864-9761. Danskunk will be your host.

Saturday will be especially busy.

Faunesthetics Events, headed by Soliloquy, will host Genesis on Saturday, September 5th at The Cotton Factory, Mill Building, Suite 301, 270 Sherman Avenue North, Hamilton. There will be music, dancing, friends and fun. Your DJs will be Fruit Machine, Jin, Nevi, DJ Subwoofer and weathergirl.
- more info - https://t.me/faunaestheticeventsannouncements/8 or https://faunaesthetic.ca/ 
- still more info & tickets - https://faunaesthetic.ca/events/genesis 

Resonance Events will host Resonance: First Orbit, also on Saturday, September 5th, from 10:00 PM until 6:00 AM. This is an outdoor event with no storage spaces. Fursuits welcome at your own risk. This is the first anniversary of Resonance Events, so the theme will be “Orbit.” Your DJs will be Aurora, Pavv, Azalea The Witch, Kandi Wolf, Psyberix, Audi, Midnight Snack and 3mma. Please sign up for their mailing list for the event location.
- for more information – https://t.me/Resonance_Events/86 
- mailing list – https://mailchi.mp/c7515ccbdb1c/welcome-to-resonance-events 
- donations – https://buymeacoffee.com/resonanceevents 

PALS will host another Paws & Pals Social (you guessed it) on Saturday, September 5th, from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM at Pegasus On Church, 489B Church Street, Toronto. Hang out on mats, meet new people.
https://t.me/FurryEventsOntario/903/2720 

If you’re going to Paws & Pins and want a discounted hotel room, you have until September 15th to apply.
https://t.co/iYcKouU068 

StratosFur, Aberacon, DenFur and West Aussie Fur Frenzy (WAFF) all end today (August 30th). Five Furry conventions begin this weekend.
- FursonaCon, September 3rd to 6th, Newport News, VA 
- IndyFurCon, September 3rd to 6th, Indianapolis, IN 
- Anthro New Mexico, September 4th to 6th, Albuquerque, NM 
- Calfurry, September 4th to 6th, Calgary, AL 
- Tails And Tornadoes Fur Con, September 4th to 6th, Tulsa, OK
- Barkada FurFest, September 5th to 6th, Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, August 30th) is International Whale Shark Day, dedicated to conservation of the largest sharks, plankton eaters; they are endangered. And today is Frankenstein Day, Mary Shelley’s birfday; she would have been 229 years old. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 31st) will be International Overdose Awareness Day; a reminder of drug overdoses, a remembrance day for those who died of overdoses, and a day of recognition for the friends and relatives they left behind. 

Tuesday (September 1st) will be a busy day. 
- Tuesday will be First Parkash, also known as the Birth of Guru Granth, the Sikh holy book and their permanent leader.
- Tuesday will be Species Requiem Day. We take this day to remember the entire species of animals and plants that we humans have destroyed. (Remind me, please, who gave us the right to do that?) It is the anniversary of the day Martha, the last passenger pigeon, died in the Cincinnati zoo in 1914. 
- Tuesday will be World Beach Day. “...this is the day to show your appreciation to the beautiful beaches in the world. Get to the beach, host an event to save our beaches, contribute to beach cleanup causes, there are lots of ways to help out.”
- Tuesday will be Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, a day of appreciation for the common, ginger tiger tabby or “orange cat.” They are kitties, and they are good. 
- Tuesday will be the Feast of St. Giles. Giles had a hermitage in a forest where he lived on milk from a tame doe. King Flavius hunted the doe and accidentally shot Giles. Giles prayed that the wound never heal. (2 Corinthians 12:9) King Flavius was so impressed that he built Giles a monastery. 
- And starting Tuesday, the TTC will start “fare capping.” After you pay by plastic (PRESTO card, credit or debit, including on phone “wallets”) for the 47th time, you won’t have to pay again for the rest of the month. (Average transit riders will never reach their 48th ride in an average month.) 

Wednesday (September 2nd) will be World Coconut Day. As the name suggests, it is a day of appreciation for coconuts and their products.  

Thursday (September 3rd) will be Merchant Navy Remembrance Day, a day to honour veterans of the Battle of the Atlantic. They served aboard Merchant Navy cargo ships that brought supplies and equipment to Britain. Remember the crews of Merchant Navy ships that were sunk in the cold North Atlantic by enemy submarines. 

On Friday (September 4th), nothing in particular will happen. 

Saturday (September 5th) will be International Day of Charity, the anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997. The UN established the occasion in 2012 to find ways to make charity easier around the world. Saturday will also be International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls. Indigenous people everywhere are under constant attack by “settlers” who want their land, but women and girls are picked out for extra abuse. They are leaders, knowledge keepers, truth tellers; erasing them hits indigenous communities especially hard. Saturday will be International Vulture Awareness Day. Vultures help keep the environment clean from corpses. Some species are close to extinction. And in the USA, Saturday will be International Bacon Day (an American celebration of bacon).

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (September 6th). It will be the Birth of CBC TV, Star Trek Day in Canada, and the first day of Living Donation Week. And next Monday (September 7th) will be Labour Day, International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, World Duchenne Day, International Manatee Day and, of course, the last day of the CNE. 

September begins this week. Holidays, Occasions and Local Events for September 2026 include:
- September 1st – First Parkash/Birth of Guru Granth (Sikh), Species Requiem Day, World Beach Day, Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, St. Giles (Furry saint)  
- September 2nd - World Coconut Day 
- September 3rd - Merchant Navy Remembrance Day 
- September 5th - International Day of Charity, International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls, International Vulture Awareness Day, International Bacon Day (USA)  
- September 6th - Birth of CBC TV, Star Trek Day (Canada) 
- September 6th to 12th – Living Donation Week 
- September 7th – Labour Day, International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, World Duchenne Day,  International Manatee Day 
- September 8th – Passing of Elizabeth II (2022), International Literacy Day, World Ampersand Day 
- September 9th - International Day to Protect Education from Attack, World First Aid Day, Anniversary of the First Computer Bug 
- September 10th - World Suicide Prevention Day, St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Furry saint) 
- September 11th (sunset) – Rosh Hashanah (Jewish) 
- September 11th - 25th anniversary of Canada’s response to the September 11th (2001), Cush Hosanna (Dudeism) 
- September 12th - Saragarhi Day (Sikhism), World First Aid Day, National Pet Memorial Day (Canada) 
- September 12th to 16th – Paitishahema Gahambar (Zoroastrianism) 
- September 13th – Grandparents Day, Firefighters' National Memorial Day (Canada), Roald Dahl Story Day, World Sepsis Day, International Chocolate Day (USA ONLY) 
- September 14th (sunrise until sunset)– Fast of Gedaliah 
- September 14th – Holy Cross Day (Christian), Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu) 
– September 14th to 20th - Mennonite Heritage Week
- September 15th - International Day of Democracy, World Engineers Day, Canadian Tire Day, International Dot Day 
- September 16th - International Identity Day, International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (Ozone Day), St. Joseph of Cupertino (Furry saint) 
- September 17th -  Engineers Day (Canada), World Patient Safety Day, International Fox Day, International Guinep Day, Batman Day, Linux’s Birfday (3 of 4) 
- September 18th - World Water Monitoring Day, African Wildcat Day 
- September 19th – International Talk Like A Pirate Day,  International Observe The Moon Night, World Cleanup Day, Software Freedom Day, International Red Panda Day, Responsible Dog Ownership Day (USA only, American Kennel Club, Kliah Mott?) 
- September 20th (sunset) – Yom Kippur (Jewish) 
- September 20th - Annual Terry Fox Run,  St. Eustace (Furry saint) 
– September 20th to 26th - Gender Equality Week, Sea Otter Awareness Week, Tolkien Week, National Forest Week 
- September 21st – International Day of Peace, Sun Day, World Gratitude Day, World Alzheimer's Day 
- September 22nd – Autumnal Equinox (20:05), First Day of Autumn, Mabon (Pagan), Elephant Appreciation Day, World Rhino Day, Hobbit Day 
- September 23rd - Maple Leaf Day/National Tree Day, International Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Bi Visibility Day) 
- September 24th - World Gorilla Day, World Maritime Day, Remember Me Thursday 
- September 25th to October 2nd (sunset) – Sukkot (Jewish) 
- September 25th - Franco-Ontarian Day, Moon Festival (Asian calendar) 
- September 26th – Bureflux (Discordian), Stanislav Petrov Day, Sport Purple for Platelets Day, World Contraception Day, Black-Footed Ferret Rediscovery Day, International Rabbit Day (aka “Bunny Day”), Full Moon (11:49, Harvest Moon, Corn Moon, Fruit Moon, Barley Moon)  
- September 26th to 27th – Word On The Street 
- September 27th - Dogbomb’s Birfday (1963) 
- September 28th - British Home Child Day, World Rabies Day, International Safe Abortion Day, International Day for Universal Access to Information, Ask A Stupid Question Day 
- September 29th - Happy Goose Day, Michael and All Angels (Catholic), National Coffee Day (Canada), World Maritime Day, World Heart Day 
- September 30th – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Orange Shirt Day, International Blasphemy Rights Day,  St. Jerome (Furry saint) 
- October 1st - National Seniors Day (Canada) and International Day of the Older Person, International Coffee Day, World Cocoa and Chocolate Day, World Sake Day, World Vegetarian Day, International Raccoon Appreciation Day 
- October 1st to 7th – HPV Prevention Week
- October 2nd to 3rd (sunset) – Shmini Atzeret (Jewish) 
- October 2nd – Mihragan (Zoroastrianism), World Farm Animals Day, International Day of Non-Violence / Gandhi Jayanti  
- October 3rd to 4th (sunset) – Simchat Torah (Jewish) 
- October 3rd - Nuit Blanche (Toronto), World Dragon Day, Mean Girls Day/Fullmetal Alchemist Day 
- October 3rd to 9th - Animal Welfare Week 
- October 4th - Arrow Day, The Feast of St Francis of Assisi (Furry saint), Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral Day (Christian), World Animal Day, Wester 
- October 4th to 10th - Fire Prevention Week (Canada and USA), World Space Week (UN) 
- October 4th to 11th - Science Literacy Week 
- October 5th - World Teachers' Day, World Habitat Day, World Meningitis Day, Linux Birthday (4 of 4) 

September is International Animal Pain Awareness Month, World Animal Remembrance Month, National Service Dog Month, Happy Healthy Cat Month, Pet-Sitter Education Month and Responsible Dog Ownership Month. In Canada, September is also Arthritis Awareness Month, Muscular Dystrophy Month and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, while worldwide it is Reye’s Syndrome Awareness Month and Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month. Watch out for canvassers!

There are thirty-two (32) Furry conventions in September 2026:
- Furrstein, September 3rd to 6th, Klatovy, Czech Republic 
- FursonaCon, September 3rd to 6th, Newport News, VA 
- IndryRurCon, September 3rd to 6th, Indianapolis, IN 
- Anhro New Mexico, September 4th to 6th, Albuquerque, NM 
- Calfurry, September 4th to 6th, Calgary, AL 
- Tails And Tornadoes Fur Con, September 4th to 6th, Tulsa, OK
- Touffurs, September 4th to 6th, Revel, France 
- Columbus Fursuit Walk, October 5th, Columbus, OH 
- Foxville Furbowl, October 5th, Westmont, IL 
- Heilbronn Fursuitwalk, October 5th, Heilbronn, Germany 
- Barkada FurFest, September 5th to 6th, Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines 
- Sigurtà Raduno, September 5th to 6th, Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy 
- FurTheMoment, September 6th, Cardiff, Wales, UK 
- SillyCon, September 10th to 13th, Russia 
- Furdance Budapest, September 11th to 13th, Budapest, Hungary 
- Furry Migration, September 11th to 13th, Minneapolis, MN 
- Club Animalz Berlin, September 12th, Berlin, Germany 
- SFPF, September 12th, Bournemouth, UK
- Furgether, September 16th to 20th, Steyr, Austria 
- Anthro SoCal, September 18th to 20th, Ontario, California 
- Wild North, September 18th to 21st, Chester-le-Street, UK 
- Furry Gathering in Vietnam (FurGIV), September 19th, Hanoi, Vietnam 
- Wrocławski Furwalk, September 19th, Wroclaw, Poland 
- Wroof, September 19th, Wroclaw, Poland 
- Furrest City, September 19th to 20th, Cleveland, OH 
- Kemoket, September 20th, Japan 
- Furry Takeover, September 25th to 27th, Fontana Dam, NC 
- Rugen Furcon, September 25th to 27th, Kurhaus Binz, Germany 
- FurCalvaDance, September 25th to 29th, Blainville-sur-Mer, France 
- Boston Furry Picnic, September 26th, Boston, MA 
- Pawtucky, September 26th to 28th, Georgetown, KY 
- H-Con, September 30th to October 4th, Erbach, Germany

NB. Mephit Fur Meet has been cancelled for this year, their venue reneged on them. Furever West has also been cancelled; I can’t find out why. 

Other upcoming events for September (so far) include:
- Old Spaghetti Factory Monthly Furmeet, September 2nd, 54 The Esplanade, Toronto, host Danskunk 
- Genesis, September 5th, Suite 301, 270 Sherman Avenue North, Hamilton 
- Paws & Pals Social, September 5th, Pegasus On Church,  489B Church Street, Toronto
- Resonance: First Orbit, September 5th, Location TBA
- - https://mailchi.mp/c7515ccbdb1c/welcome-to-resonance-events 
- BEER!Meet Daystar, September 11th, Mascot Brewery, 37 Advanxe Road, Etobicoke 
- Niagara Falls Furry Invasion, September 12th, Niagara Falls, NY 
- Camp Conifur, September 12th to 14th, Camp Wetaskiwin, Short Hills Provincial Park, St. Catharines 
- Bark In The Dark 4.0, September 18th, Geary Avenue Warehouse Project, 209 Geary Ave, Toronto 
- Cozycon, September 18th to 20th, https://cozycononline.com/ 
- Waterloo Royal Medieval Faire, September 19th, Waterloo Park West, Waterloo
- Lumen Festival Furmeet, September 19th, 75 King Street South, Waterloo 
- Hamilton Comic Con, September 19th to 20th , Hamilton Convention Centre, 1 Summers Lane, Hamilton 
- Biidaasige Park Furwalk, September 26th, Biidaasige Park, 51 Commissioners Street, Toronto 
- Smoke In The Smoke #11, September 26th (?), drive-in meet, details TBA? 
- - https://t.me/smokeinthesmoke1 
NB. The Birfday Otter Update does not necessarily endorse any event; we merely report that they will happen. Readers are encouraged to decide for themselves which events they wish to attend, if any.

This is the last update of the month, so the complete Unofficial Birthday List is REDACTED. And if you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, as long as you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee  

Birfday Otter Update 23AUG2026

HI! hugs The big monthly update will be next week. 

There are five (5) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Kusac Antonial is forty-eight Today! (Sunday, August 23rd) Happy Birfday! 
-  Kratsminsch Skunk will be sixty-eight tomorrow (Monday, August 24th). 
- Shiver, the Raccoon, will be fifty-six on Tuesday (August 25th). 
-  DredWolf will be forty-four, also on Tuesday. And 
- Maligno Fox will be forty-six on Friday (August 28th). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Stryke Stella’s birfday next Monday (August 31st). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, this weekend is going to be busy. 

Colin The Original will host a Scooters Skate & Draw Meet today (Sunday, August 23rd), starting at 1:00 PM. The location is Scooter’s Roller Palace, 2105 Royal Windsor Drive, Mississauga (near Slarkson FO Station). They close at 5:00 PM. Roller skate, then take a break, draw and exchange drawings. The entry fee is $16 (cash or plastic). Skate rental is $5; that and concessions are cash only. There are small lockers for your stuff; those only take coins. Fursuits are not recommended. There will be children; no swearing, no pup hoods or other kink gear of any kind. OBEY THE STAFF!
- more information and to RSVP – https://t.me/Torontowo/69822 

- NB. This event was originally dated Saturday, August 29th; I don’t know when or why Colin changed it. No other details have changed.

NorthPaws Events will host Feral Frequency 4: Freak4Freq this Friday (August 28th). From 9:00 PM until 2:30 AM at Geary Avenue Warehouse Project, 209 Geary Avenue, Toronto. Your DJs (in alphabetical order) will be 66mix, Aeons, Azalea The Witch, Novaxdj, weathergirland, and Xeon.
- tickets (probably sold out) - https://www.eventbrite.com/o/120397960231 
- more information - https://www.feralfrequency.net/ or https://t.me/feralfrequency/115 
- also, these guys - https://gearywarehouse.com/ 

It’s not specifically Furry, but The 519 is hosting an Intergenerational BBQ on Saturday, August 29th, from noon to 4:30 PM at Barbara Hall Park, 519 Church Street, Toronto. Celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community Summer BBQ. 
- more information and to RSVP - https://www.the519.org/events/summer-bbq/ 

Steel City Beasts will host their third (?) dance on Sunday, August 30th, from 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM at Ringside!, 324 James Street North, Hamilton. It’s an outdoor shaded gazebo with a cash bar that’s wheelchair accessible. There’ll be music, vendors, a headless lounge, a pool table and lounge seating. DJs (in alphabetical order) will be Brock, Dodge, Jin and Sugar. At the time of writing, early bird tickets still seemed to be available.
- more info, how-to-find-us video - https://t.me/SteelCityBeasts/89 
- tickets – https://ra.co/events/2482218 

Serious Sirus will host a Con-Critters Meet at Fan Expo on Saturday, August 30th (meeting time still TBA at time of writing). Obviously this will happen at Fan Expo, Toronto Metro Convention Centre, Toronto. Fursuiters, cosplayers, etc are all welcome. There will be a group photo.
- for more info and to RSVP – https://t.me/c/1356340389/21899 

Animal Instinct – After Dark will happen on Sunday, August 31st from 1:00 PM until 3:00 AM at Oasis Aqualounge, 23 Mutual Street, Toronto. Oasis features a pool, hot tub, and dungeon. Pups, Furries and anthros are invited. Admission to Oasis is $100 for couples and solo men, $15 for solo women. 
- more info – https://t.me/c/2413479984/378051?single 
- tickets – https://tickets.oasisaqualounge.com/events/90566 

At the time of writing,  there were still a few tickets left for Bark In The Dark 4. 
- https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bark-in-the-dark-4-2-skool-4-kool-tickets-1996378418591 

There were also a few tickets left for Feral Frequency 4: Freak4Freq at the time of writing. You might need an account to see them.) 
- tickets - https://freak4freq.eventbrite.ca/ 

Early bird ticket sales for Faunaesthetics Genesis have ended. The regular price is now in effect: $20 + HST. All ticket sales end September 6th. 
- https://faunaesthetics.ca/events/genesis 

EuroFurence, Megaplex and Pawstral end today (Sunday, August 23rd), while Camp Feral! and Furthest North end tomorrow (Monday, August 24th). Four Furry conventions begin this weekend.
- StratosFur, August 27th to 30th, Houston, TX 
- Aberacon, August 28th to 30th, Port Talbot, UK 
- DenFur, August 28th to 30th, Denver, CO 
- West Aussie Fur Frenzy, August 28th to 30th, Fremantle, West Australia 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, August 23rd) is the 150th Anniversary of Treaty 6, the agreement between the Crown (Queen Victoria at the time) and several First Nations, including the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, etc. There were also signings on the 28th and September 9th. (Please note that official celebrations started on the 20th with a ceremony at Edmonton City Hall; the Alberta government did not send a representative.) Today is also International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition; yes, there were African slaves in Canada. Today is Black Ribbon Day, a day of remembrance for victims of Stalinism and Nazism. And today is International Blind Dog Day, a day of appreciation for dogs who can’t see, for their special needs and what they can do with their other senses. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 24th), Mawlid or Milad un Nabi will begin at sunset; it is the Sunni Muslim celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (pbuh). Tomorrow will also be International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code. On August 24th, 2007, Sophie Lancaster died from injuries. She and her boyfriend Rob Maltby had been assaulted by other teens who didn’t approve of Goth culture. “There is no such thing as a right to never be offended. If you don’t like it, fuck off.” (Kindly refrain from killing people because they dress differently, listen to different music, or really for any reason.

On Tuesday (August 25th), Mawlid (or Milad un Nabi) will begin at sunset; this Mawlid is the Shi’a Muslim celebration of the prophet Muhammad’s birthday (pbuh). And Tuesday will be Linux’s Birthday; the anniversary of Linus Torvalds announcing his project (Linux) on comp.os.minix in 1991. 
NB. Four days been suggested as Linux’s birfday; July 3rd, (the day he mentioned it on comp.os.minix for the first time), August 25, (see above), September 17th, (the day the Linux kernel was released), and October 5th, (the day the first full version of Linux was released.) Torvalds favours September 17th. 

Of special note, if you live in the Beaches-East York riding and want to vote by mail in the by-election, you have until Tuesday to apply for a voting kit. Election day is Monday, the 31st.
https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=reg/svr&document=index&lang=e 

Wednesday (August 26th) will be World Dog Day in Canada. Animal advocate Colleen Paige founded the day in 2004 to remind the world of the plight of homeless and abused dogs. It started as an American national day, but it was a good enough idea that it spread. 

Thursday (August 27th) will be World Lake Day, a celebration of the importance of lakes to nature and human civilization. (It’s an otter thing.) And canidae, please note that the moon will be at its fullest on Thursday at 11:18 PM. This will be the Sturgeon Moon (Feesh!), also known as the Red Moon, Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. 

Friday (August 28th) will be Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, a memorial day for pets who died before us. Friday will also be International Read Comics In Public Day; commemorate Jack Kirby’s birfday by reading comics where people can see you do it. And Friday will be Otter Appreciation Day; I admit I’ve yet to find the source for this occasion. It was announced on Fur Affinity by Scrimno Otter several years ago, but it might have something to do with actor Sean Astin being photographed with an otter. 

Saturday (August 29th) will be International Day Against Nuclear Tests, a United Nations day to support bans on testing nuclear weapons. Saturday will also be International Go Topless Day, an annual event held in the United States to support the right of women to go topless in public on gender-equality grounds. (It’s already legal in Canada.) And Saturday will be the first night of International Bat Night; observe bats and learn about bat conservation; it ends on the 30th. 

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (August 30th). It will be International Whale Shark Day and Frankenstein Day. (It will also be Alberta Day, so keep an eye out for news about that.) And next Monday (August 31st) will be International Overdose Awareness Day. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, as long as you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee 

Birfday Otter Update 16AUG2026

HI! hugs 

There are six (6) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Scani Forte will be thirty-eight tomorrow (Monday, August 17th). 
- Branwyn will be fifty-two on Tuesday (August 18th). 
- Jinx The Lynx will be thirty-two on Thursday (August 20th). 
- Teddy will be forty-four on Friday (August 21st). 
- Aurorus Kitsune will be forty, also on Friday. And 
- Terry Wesner will be sixty-three on Saturday (August 22nd). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Kusac Antonial’s birfday next Sunday (August 23rd) and for Kratsminsch Skunk’s birfday next Monday (August 24th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, 66nix and weathergirl will host All Paws On Deck 2 tonight (August 19th) from 7:00 PM until midnight at The Wych, 1150 Davenport Rd, Toronto. DJs may come to try out for Northpaw Events dances (Feral Frequency and Tailgate). Bring your own USB for a 30-minute spot on their Pioneer XDJ-XZ; first come, first served. If you want to come and listen for free, you’re also welcome. The Wych serves goth cocktails. 
https://t.me/c/3481400727/5464 

The next Oshawa Furmeet is Friday (August 21st) starting at 7:00 PM at Leisure Lanes, 728 Champlain Ave, Oshawa. Come and enjoy fursuit bowling and alley-type snacks.
https://t.me/c/1260370444/401391 

When there’s an Oshawa Furmeet on Friday, there’s usually an Oshawa Virtual Furmeet on Saturday (August 22nd) on VRChat starting at 8:00 PM.
- Info through Telegram, https://t.me/oshawavrmeet 

The only other local event this week is Camp Feral! from Thursday, August 20th to 24th at 1 Camp Arowhon Road, Algonquin Park, ON. If you haven’t registered yet, try again next year.
- details - https://campferal.org 

Steel City Beasts had to change their DJ line-up. Your DJs will now be Brock, Dodge, Jin and Sugar. Some “early nird” tickets were still available last Sunday; they might be gone by now.
https://ra.co/events/2482218 

Tickets for Bark In The Dark: 2 Skool 4 Kool go on sale tomorrow (Monday, August 17th) at 9:00 PM. Sponsor badges are available. Please bring stickers for the sticker board. DJs (in appearance order) will be Kandikat, 66nix, Drag with Alissa Brink, Jude and Azalea the Witch. 
- more info - https://www.Barkinthedark.gay/ 
- or https://bsky.app/barkinthedark.gay
- tickets - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bark-in-the-dark-4-2-skool-4-kool-tickets-1996378418591 

Tickets are on sale now for AnthroNiagara’s Paws & Pins event at Kingpin St. Catharines, from 4:00 PM until 11:00 PM. Kingpin offers bowling, mini-putt and arcade games. There will also be a headless lounge. 
- more info – https://t,me/anthroniagara/5 
- still more info and tickets – https://anthroniagara.ca/ 

Registration closes for Camp ConiFur on Thursday, August 27th. Camp ConiFur will happen September 12th to 14th at Camp Wetaskiwin, St. Catharines, ON, and will feature swimming, hiking, capture the flag, and Zee the Raccoon. (She announced it on her Yt.) 
- more info and tickets - https://www.campconifur.ca 

Five Furry conventions begin this week. 
- EuroFurence, August 19th to 23rd, Hamburg, Germany 
- Camp Feral!, August 20th to 24th, Camp Erewhon, Algonquin Park, ON 
- Furthest North, August 20th to 24th, Snow Creek Group Campground, AB 
- Megaplex, August 21st to 23rd, Orlando, FL 
- Pawstral, August 21st to 23rd, Santiago, Chile 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, August 16th) is the Feast of St. Roch of Montpellier. Roch got the black plague in Rome, so he withdrew to a hut in the forest. A dog brought him food every day. The dog’s owner followed and became Roch’s acolyte.

Tomorrow (Monday, August 17th) will be Marcus Garvey’s Birthday; he’s a hero to Rastafarians for founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the African Communities League. Tomorrow will also be International Black Cat Day. Black cats are the last to be adopted and are often abused because of their superstitious association with witches.  Be nice to black kitties; they need love, too. (Thanks to Kliah Mott for suggesting this occasion. It is celebrated on October 27th in the UK.) Tomorrow will be the first day of Public Service Pride Week; it ends on the 21st. And tomorrow will be the Feast of St. Mamas of Caesarea (also known as Mammes). Mamas preached to animals. They threw him to the lions for being Christian, but he preached to them, and they became docile. One lion stayed with him and protected him. 

On Tuesday (August 18th) nothing in particular will happen. 

Wednesday (August 19th) will be World Humanitarian Day, an occasion declared by the UN to “pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.” Wednesday is also International Orangutan Day; there are three subspecies of orangutan, and all are critically endangered. Wednesday will be Polygamy Day, a day to promote marriage between one man and two or more women, sponsored by Polygamy Day, Inc. And Wednesday will be World Photography Day, a celebration of photography; show off your best photos. 

Thursday (August 20th) will be  Khordad Sal, the Zoroastrian celebration of the birth of the Prophet Zarathushtra. (We’re not sure how old he’d be.) Thursday will also be World Mosquito Day, the anniversary of Dr. Sir Ronald Ross's 1897 discovery that female mosquitoes, not males, transmit malaria between humans. And Thursday will be A&W Burgers To Beat MS; A&W will give $2 for every teenburger sold to help beat Multiple Sclerosis. (You can also donate at the link below.)

Friday (August 21st) will be  Jashan of Shahrewar; it’s a Zoroastrian thanksgiving festival during their month of Shahrewar, but I couldn’t find what it’s for. Friday will also be World Senior Citizens Day. “The day is intended to increase awareness of the factors and issues that affect older adults, such as health deterioration and elder abuse. It is also a day to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of older people to society.” (Wiki) And Friday will be the first day of the Canadian National Exhibition for 2026; it ends Birfday Otter Update 16AUG2026

Saturday (August 22nd) will be the Feast of Saint Guinefort, a most unusual saint. Guinefort was a dog, a greyhound loyal to a knight who lived in a castle in Lyons. One day the knight went hunting and left his baby in Guinefort’s care. He returned to find his son’s room in a mess and Guinefort with blood on his jaws. He slew Guinefort, thinking he’d eaten the baby. Then the knight heard his baby crying, turned over the cradle and found his son alive and a viper dead of dog bites. The knight put Guinefort’s body in a well and planted trees around it. This became a local shrine. The church tried to stop parishioners from venerating a dog; thus, the Streisand Effect spread his fame even further.

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (August 23rd). It will be the 150th Anniversary of Treaty 6 (also 28th and September 9th), International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition and International Blind Dog Day. And next Monday (August 24th) will be Mawlid (or Milad un Nabi) and International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, as long as you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee

Birfday Otter Update 09AUG2026

HI! hugs 

There are three (3) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Kliah Mott is eighty-three Today! (Sunday, August 9th) Happy Birfday! 
- Amandajean Snowpaws will be sixty-nine on Tuesday (August 11th). And 
-  Blackears will be fifty, also on Tuesday. 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Scani Forte’s birfday next Monday (August 17th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, Northpaws Events will host TAILGATE this Friday (August 14th), from 8:00 PM until 2:00 AM at Lee/s Palace, 529 Bloor Street W, Toronto. This event is kink-friendly and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive, so please be nineteen or older. Your DJs will be ClaireWolf, Gussyee, Solvi, Stacxion and weathergirl. 
- more info -  or https://tailgatefurry.net 
- tickets – https://www.ticketweb.ca/event/tailgate-lees-palace-tickets/14208924 – some left? 08AU2026 

Tickets are now on sale for “Steel City Beasts: Ringsde At Ringside,” Ringside!, 324 James Street North, Hamilton, on Sunday, August 30th from 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM. Early bird tickets are $17.05, regular admission is $22.75 (both with tax). Vendor applications are coming soon.
- more info & video on how to find the place - https://t.me/SteelCityBeasts/89 
- tickets – https://ra.co/events/2482218 

General admission tickets for Feral Frequency 4 go on sale today (August 9th) at 11:00 AM. NB. If you bought tickets for Steel City Beasts, you got a discount code for Feral Frequency. 
- more info - https://t.me/feralfrequency/115 or https://t.me/FurryEventsOntario/1489/2003 
- tickets - https//freak4freq.eventbrite.ca 

Furnal Equinox panel applications are open now. (They close October 24th.) They also still need more staff, BTW.
- to submit a panel application – https://furnalequinox.com/panel-event-submissions/ 
- volunteers/staff – https://furnalequinox.com/volunteer/ 

East, Furrydelphia, CanFURence, Fur Raymi, Tails of Summer and IceFurCabin all end today (Sunday, August 9th), while South Afrifur ends tomorrow (Monday, August 10th). Two Furry conventions begin this weekend. 
- Dutch Furcon, August 14th to 17th, Groesbeek, Netherlands 
- Furry Vietnam Eternity/FUVE, August 15th, Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam 

Before I continue, here’s a PSA. Some time between June 15th and August 16th, 2020, hackers broke into the CRA’s database and stole ID data from some Canadian citizens. There is a class action suit for Canadians affected. To get in on it, you’ll have to show an auditing firm that your data was stolen. Go to the link below and fill out a three-question form to find out if you’re eligible. You have until February 3rd, 2027 to apply. 
- more information - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE6RV17h_9c 
- to prove you’re eligible - https://www.breachsettlementcanada.kpmg.ca/en/eligibility-check 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, August 9th) is Nagasaki Day; please see the first footnote. Today is also National Peacekeepers Day, a remembrance day for Canadian troops who died in peacekeeping activities. And today is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples; in a way, it’s a day of protest against the Doctrine of Discovery, a Roman Catholic law that, simply put, when a Christian country discovers land inhabited by non-Christians, the discoverers own it. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 10th) will be Multiversal Underwear Day, but that’s a Discordian "holy day", so we’re not meant to understand it. Tomorrow will also be World Lion Day, to support awareness of lion conservation. (According to the IUCN, lions are critically endangered; less than 23K remained in 2025.) And tomorrow will be International Biodiesel Day. On August 10th, 1893, Rudolf Diesel's prototype engine ran for the first time, and the fuel he used was peanut oil. 

Tuesday (August 11th) will be Dogbomb & Sarah Day; please see the second footnote. And Tuesday will be World Steelpan Day, a UNESCO heritage day in honour of the famous recycled percussion instrument of the Caribbean. 

Wednesday (August 12th) will be Zaraday, another Discordian “holy Day” that we’re not supposed to bother with. Wednesday will also be International Youth Day, a day to encourage respect for young people. Wednesday will be World Elephant Day, a day of appreciation for conservation of elephants in the wild. (According to the IUCN, Asian and African savanna elephants are endangered, while African forest elephants are critically endangered.) And Wednesday will be Quantum Cat Day,  Professor Erwin Schrödinger’s birfday; he would have been 139. 

Thursday (August 13th) will be a busy day.
- Thursday will be the End of Safar, the second month in the Islamic calendar. It is said to be an unlucky month, but that’s just superstition. Three significant events did happen during Safar, however: the Battle of Al-Abwa, the Prophet Muhammad became sick (but didn’t die until later), and the Prophet appointed Abu Bakr to lead prayers while he was sick.
- Thursday will be the first day of Obon, the Japanese Buddhist/Shintoist grave cleaning holiday. Believers (and everybody really) travel to their family homes to clean their ancestors’ graves and spend time with family. It ends on the 16th. 
- Thursday will be World Organ Donation Day. The purpose of the occasion is “to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and to make people aware of the misconceptions of organ donation.” 
- Thursday will be International Left Handers Day, a day to dispel myths and promote facts about people whose dominant hand is their left instead of their right. 
- Thursday will be International Wolf Day,  a day to promote not killing wolves for sport or superstition. 
- And Thursday will be Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day. All net proceeds from the sale of Blizzard treats will be donated to local children's hospitals. (You can also donate at the link.) 

Friday (August 14th) will be World Lizard Day, an occasion dedicated to appreciating lizards. (Scalies are animals too!) 

Saturday (August 15th) will be National Acadian Day; Acadians were the French immigrants who founded the New France settlements in what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Saturday will also be Assumption Day, the Catholic celebration of St Mary being taken into Heaven, body, soul and all, when she died. Saturday will be World Stray Animals Day, also known as International Homeless Animals Day, a day to promote the care of dogs and cats whose “forever home” is the streets. And Saturday will be World Nimbat Day*, which celebrates the anniversary of “Dust: An Elysian Tail” worldwide release 2012, and in particular Fidget the Nimbat, Dust’s adorable sidekick. 

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (August 16th). It will be the Feast of St. Roch of Montpellier. And next Monday (August 17th) will be Marcus Garvey’s Birthday, International Black Cat Day, the Feast of St. Mamas of Caesarea and the first day of Public Service Pride Week. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, provided you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee 

* (Okay, I confess, I made this up after dealing with World Numbat Day in November.) 

+-----------------------------------------------+ 

Nagasaki Day, August 9th

On this day in 1945, at 11:01 local time, the “silverplate edition” B-29 Superfortress “Bockscar” dropped “Fat Man,” a plutonium implosion-type bomb, on the city of Nagasaki. The bomb detonated over a tennis court halfway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works and the Nagasaki Arsenal. It delivered a 21 kiloton explosion, but the blast and resultant firestorm were confined to the Urakami Valley. Estimates of the death toll vary widely, but at least 22,000 were killed immediately, only 150 of them military personnel. Due to a faulty fuel transfer pump, Bockscar was unable to land at its base at Iwo Jima. The crew diverted to Okinawa, where they made an emergency landing with no casualties.

NB. There is some doubt as to whether Emperor Hirohito and his military advisors decided to surrender because of the nuclear bombings or because Soviet forces were attacking in Manchuria, forcing Japan to fight on two fronts, neither of which they could hold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man

+———————————————–+

Dogbomb and Sarah Day, August 11th

On this day in 2010, Dogbomb was out walking in his famous Beastcub Gshep fursuit. As he went along the pier at his local beach, he noticed a girl in a wheelchair, Sarah. She couldn’t move very much, but she could smile. She smiled at Dogbomb. Her smile moved him to let her hold “the big doggy’s” paw and nuzzle his chest. She did not want to let go right away, so he stayed and let her hold hands for as long as she liked.

At last she had had enough. As Dogbomb was leaving, Sarah’s mother explained the situation to him. Sarah had advanced cerebral palsy. Her mind was sharp, but her body failed her, as he had seen. Yet she had learned to express her appreciation to her caretakers in small ways, as she had with him.

Later, he wrote about the experience in his FurAffinity journal. The post went viral. The incident and his description of it so moved the fandom that Dogbomb became a spiritual leader and a considered voice in our little community.

A hero is just somebody who decides to help; sometimes despite danger, sometimes despite fear, sometimes for no other reason than that it’s the right thing to do.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/4296204

Birfday Otter Update 02AU2026

HI! hugs

There are five (5) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Xanothos Tengetsu’s birfday will be tomorrow (Monday, August 3rd). 
- The Zebu’s birfday will also be tomorrow. 
- Snow will be fifty-three on Tuesday (August 4th). 
- Cnipur will be forty-two on Wednesday (August 5th). And 
- D'Bandit will be sixty-four on Thursday (August 6th). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Kliah’s birfday next Sunday (August 9th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, there’s nothing. Two local events were scheduled for yesterday, but none for this week. (That doesn’t mean you can’t hold an unscheduled event if you feel like it.) 

This is just a reminder that registration is open for Camp ConiFur.
https://www.campconifur.ca 

CozyCon is selling physical merch again.
https://cozycononline.com/cozy-store 

Faunaesthetic is holding an event of some kind sometime on Saturday, September 5th. It will happen at The Cotton Factory, Mill Building, Suite 301, 270 Sherman Avenue North, Hamilton. They’re still being stingy with details, but they have an FAQ. Also, they’re looking for one more DJ.
https://faunaesthetic.ca/faq 
https://faunaesthetic.ca/contact/dj-application 

HIM has announced the next TEM Shop. Unfortunately, HIM posted all the details on Instagram, so I can’t get them (short of starting an Instagram account, and I refuse to do that).
https://www.instagram.com/p/DbcPm2Slc3w/?igsh=MXU2ZDRzNDI0YzE5aQ== 

Futerkon, Anthro Weekend Utah, AnthroIrish, Osaka Furry Fun Festa and Super Furry Fusion end today (Sunday, August 2nd), while  Bratislava FurFest ends tomorrow (Monday, August 3rd). Eight Furry conventions begin this week.
- East, August 5th to 9th, Suhl, Germany 
- TrashCån, August 5th to 9th, Parpan, Switzerland 
- Furrydelphia, August 6th to 9th, Philadelphia, PA
- CanFURence, August 7th to 9th, Ottawa, ON 
- South Afrifur, August 7th to 10th, Johannesburg, South Africa 
- Fur Raymi, August 8th to 9th, Lima, Peru 
- IceFurCabin, August 8th to 9th, Iceland 
- Tails of Summer, August 8th to 9th, Richmond, BC 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, August 2nd) is Bunny Girl Day in Japan. Eight (for August) and two (second day) in Japanese is “hachi ni”, which can be read as “bunny.” Draw your favourite character in a bunny girl costume (I believe that means the old Playboy Bunny uniform). And today is the first day of International Assistance Dog Week in honour of dogs who help us in our daily lives; it ends on the 8th. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 3rd) will be Civic Holiday; it’s a statutory holiday in Ontario, so you should be paid extra for having to work on Monday. And Monday will be Esther Day; please see the footnote. 

On Tuesday (August 4th), Arba’een will begin at sunset; a pilgrimage for Shi’a Muslims to the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali (the third Shi’a imam) at Karbala, Iraq. Tuesday will also be Assistance Dog Day, a celebration of dogs who help people with disabilities. And Tuesday will be International Clouded Leopard Day; according to the IUCN, these iconic cats have been vulnerable to extinction since 2008, and their numbers are still decreasing. 

Wednesday (August 5th) will be World Ant Day, which is a celebration of ants. (They’re animals too, you know!) 

Thursday (August 6th) will be Hiroshima Day. On this day in 1945, at 08:15 local time, “Little Boy,” a uranium gun-type atomic bomb, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima from the “silverplate edition” B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay.” It missed its target, the Aioi Bridge, by 240m, detonating over the Shima Surgical Clinic. It delivered a 16 kiloton blast, however, and had a destructive radius of 1.6km, so nukes and horseshoes. 70,000-80,000 people were killed by the blast and resultant firestorm; only about 20,000 of them were military personnel. 

Friday (August 7th) will be International Beer Day, which is a celebration of beer. Its purpose is to enjoy beer, remember those who brew and serve beer and to bring the world together in support of beer. (mostly the first thing) 

Saturday (August 8th) will be International Day of the Female Orgasm; on this day in 2006 in Espertina, Brazil, Councillor Arimateio Dantas passed a law that men must give their wives or other female lovers an orgasm when they have sex. Saturday will also be International Cat Day, one of several world cat days, this one created by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2002. (Thanks to Kliah Mott for contributing this occasion.) Saturday will be Scottish Wildcat Day, dedicated to this Critically Endangered species of small cat found only in Scotland. And Saturday will be Vore Day; don’t. 

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (August 9th). It will be Nagasaki Day, National Peacekeepers Day and International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. And tomorrow (Monday, August 10th) will be Multiversal Underwear Day, World Lion Day and International Biodiesel Day. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, provided you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee

+-----------------------------------------------+ 

Esther Day, August 3rd 
“Esther Earl was a Nerdfighter who died in 2010 when she was 16. When she was very sick, her family asked her how she would like them to celebrate her birthday after she was gone. She said that she wanted them all to take the day to say "I love you" to the people who you love, but you maybe don't say it enough, or maybe it's hard to do. Which is just, like, the kindest, most thoughtful answer to that question ever.” 
-- John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Fault In Our Stars 
 
-- Hank Green, author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj96HM9kDTQ  

Birfday Otter Update 26JUL2026

HI! hugs 

There are two (2) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- FireDragon is forty-three Today! (Sunday, July 26th) Happy Birfday! And 
-  MacX will be forty-seven on Wednesday (July 29th). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Xanothos Tengetsu’s and  The Zebu’s birfdays next Monday (August 3rd). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, Muzzled is presenting The Beach Episode today (Sunday, July 26th) from noon until 6:00 PM at Hanlans Point Beach (the clothing optional beach), Toronto Islands, Toronto. Obviously, this meet is for furs nineteen and older. Bring beach chairs or blankets, towels, sunscreen and bug spray, food, drinks and water, fursuits and pup hoods. Inflatables welcome, but bring them at your own risk. 
- for more info – https://t.me/muzzled_announcements/127 
- Muzzled - https://www.getmuzzled.ca/ 

PALS Pack Weekend continues today with Brunch at O’Grady’s from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM, then “ARF” at The Drink from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM. (Their beach party at Hanlan’s Point was yesterday, Saturday.)

Spike and Kandiwolf will host their SPYKE!Party on Saturday, August 1st from 10:00 PM until 1:00 AM at The Wych, 1150 Davenport Rd, Toronto. This event is kink-friendly, and the dress code is “no genitals,” so please be nineteen or older. Your DJs will be Aurora, Hydro and Kandiwolf. Tickets ($15) are optional, but they help to fund the event, so please consider getting one. (And please buy something from the bar to support the venue.) 
- tickets – https://TAS-Spike.eventbrite.com 
- more info – https://t.me/c/1380778557/712093 or https://t.me/c/4304544209/3 

Jasper and Blue Fox Boots will host Festival of Floof on Saturday, August 1st starting at 1:00 PM. You can find them at the 50th Hamilton Festival of Friends in the Tree-Shaded Area of the Rose Garden, Gage Park, Hamilton. There will be music, food and Furry fun for all ages. Bring food or get take-out at nearby stores. Lunch will be at 1:00, then we’ll wander about in fursuits (or just with the suiter There will be a crowd, so expect to be asked for pictures. 
- more info & to RSVP – https://t.me/Clusterfluff/288647 

Tickets still seem to be available for Northpaw Events’ Tailgate on Friday, August 14th, from 8:00 PM until 2:00 AM at Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor Street W, Toronto. This event is kink-friendly and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive, so please be nineteen or older. Your DJs (in alphabetical order) will be ClaireWolf, Gussyee, Solvi, Stacxion and weathergirl. 
- tickets – https://www.ticketweb.ca/event/tailgate-lees-palace-tickets/14208924 
- more info - https://t.me/tailgatetoronto or https://tailgatefurry.net 

Faunesthetics is accepting DJ applications for something in Hamilton on Saturday, September 5th. That’s all they’re saying right now. 
- more info - https://t.me/faunaestheticeventsannouncements/4 
- DJ Applications – https://faunaesthetic.ca/contact/dj-application 

Camp Conifur is accepting panel submissions. However, they announced that for medical reasons they lost three of their five organizers. Things might be less organized than they should be this year.
- panel submissions – https://forms.gle/QWqeVTTUfx8CeX7N6

FurEast, Aurawra, AnthroPomme and Furrest Con end today (Sunday, July 26th). Two Furry conventions begin this week. 
- Futerkon, July 29th to August 2nd, Ossa, Poland 
- Anthro Weekend Utah, July 31st to August 2nd, Layton, UT 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, July 26th) is Esperanto Day, the publication anniversary of Unua Libro in 1887, the first book written in Esperanto. Today is also International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. (It’s an otter thing. There’s lots of feesh in mangrove swamps and places to nest and hide from predators.) And today is the first day of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel; it ends on August 1st. 

Tomorrow (Monday, July 27th) will be World Diabetes Day, the anniversary of Insulin; Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin from dogs’ pancreases on this day in 1921. Their discovery saved millions of human lives. (Their experiments were awfully rough on a lot of dogs, however.) Tomorrow will also be Bugs Bunny’s Birfday, the anniversary of the first theatrical release of “A Wild Hare” (directed by Tex Avery), generally considered Bugs’s first cartoon. (“Porky’s Hare Hunt” featured a rabbit, but it was not officially Bugs.) And tomorrow will be Kitchen Sink Day, a celebration of anything you like, as long as it doesn’t already have a day. This year’s recommendations are "place" or "concept."  

On Tuesday (July 28th), Tu B’Av will begin at sunset. In ancient Jewish times, it was the beginning of the grape harvest; unmarried women would dress in white and dance in the vineyards. In modern Israel, it’s roughly equivalent to Valentine’s Day. Tuesday will also be the Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval, a day of recognition for the Expulsion of the Acadians from the Maritimes between 1755 and 1764. On this day in 1755, King George II signed a deportation order, authorizing His forces to expel French settlers from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Tuesday will be Beatrix Potter's Birfday; the author and illustrator of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and 22 other beloved children’s stories was born in 1866. And Tuesday will be World Hepatitis Day,  devoted to reminding the world about virus strains that cause swelling of the liver. 

Wednesday (July 29th) will be Asala Puja, also known as Dharma Day, the Buddhist celebration of the Buddha’s first sermon. Wednesday will also be International Tiger Day; it highlights the immediate need for tiger conservation. (The IUCN lists them as Regionally Extinct.) Wednesday will be Don't Be A Dick Day; Will Wheaton's fifty-fourth birthday, it is devoted to Wheaton's Law, which simply states, “Don't be a dick.” And canidae, please note that the moon will be at its fullest at 9:36 AM on Wednesday. This will be the Full Buck Moon, also known as the Thunder Moon or the Hay Moon.

Thursday (July 30th) will be Earth Overshoot Day, the date on which humans use up all of the biological resources that the Earth can regenerate during the entire year. After Thursday, the biosphere goes even further “into debt” for us. Thursday will also be International Day of Friendship; this observance was declared by the UN in 2011 to celebrate friendship. (It’s another otter thing; friends are wealth!) And Thursday will be the first day of Caribana, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival; the Grande Parade will march on Saturday, August 1st, and it ends on Monday, August 3rd. 

Friday (July 31st) will be the Passing of Taral Wayne; born October 12th, 1951, died July 31st, 2024, found deceased in his apartment by his friend Steve Gatuso, who was bringing up his groceries, died of myasthenia gravis complicated by a previous stroke. Taral was a Furry artist before Furry began, a founder within his local fandom. He was also well known among Science Fiction fan publishers, artists and writers. *RIP* Friday will also be National Mutt Day, a day in honour of dogs without a pedegree. Adopt a mutt! (Thanks to Kliah Mott for suggesting this occasion.) And Friday will be the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. Intent on murdering somebody, Iggy set out on his mule to find his victim. But the mule took him on the road that led to the pilgrimage place of Our Lady of Montserrat instead. There, the saint gave up on murder and vowed to live a life of penance and devotion to God.

Saturday (August 1st) will be a busy day.
- Saturday will be the Caribana Grand Parade. It will start from Exhibition Place and proceed down Lakeshore Boulevard for twelve hours! (That’s what they're predicting. With a parade, especially one like this, who knows what will happen.) 
- Saturday will be Food Day Canada, a celebration of all things food, from agriculture to food service to actual food, with a focus on Canadian food. 
- Saturday will be Lammas Christian mass of the first loaf. Christian farmers would harvest the early wheat and take it to be ground into flour, then bake a loaf of bread with it. On Lammas (loaf mass) they would take that loaf to the priest, who would bless it and thereby bless the harvest. After that they could use the rest of the harvest as they (or their masters) chose. 
- Saturday will be Lughnasadh, the Pagan first harvest festival. It honours Lugh, the God of Many Skills, and His foster mother, Tailtiu. Lugh is a king, a warrior and a craftsman, skilled at everything. Lughnasadh celebrates skills and craftsmanship, as well as grain, harvest and gratitude.
- Saturday will be Emancipation Day, the anniversary of the abolition of slavery across the British Empire. The Slavery Abolition Act received royal assent on Aug. 28, 1833, but it came into effect on Aug. 1, 1834 so that word could spread to all the colonies. 
- Saturday will be Girl Friends Day. This occasion honours friendship between and among women. (It does not concern any relationship of any sort between women and men.) 
- Saturday will be World Scout Scarf Day. Current and former scouts wear their scout scarves to advertise the organization. 
- Saturday will be Universal Birthday for Shelter Dogs (aka “Dogust”). If your canine family member came from a shelter, you probably don’t know exactly (or even roughly) when they were born. Celebrate their birfday this Saturday instead! (Thanks to Kliah Mott for suggesting this occasion.) 

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (August 2nd). It will be Bunny Girl Day in Japan and the first day of International Assistance Dog Week. And next Monday (August 3rd) will be Civic Holiday and Esther Day. 

August begins this week. Holidays, Occasions and Local Events for August 2026 include:
- August 1st – Caribana Grand Parade, Food Day Canada, Lammas (Christian), Lughnasadh (Pagan), Emancipation Day, Girl Friends Day, World Scout Scarf Day, Universal Birthday for Shelter Dogs (aka “Dogust”) 
- August 2nd - Bunny Girl Day (Japan) 
- August 2nd to 8th - International Assistance Dog Week 
- August 3rd - Civic Holiday, Esther Day (Nerdfighteria) 
- August 4th - Assistance Dog Day 
- August 4th (sunset) – Arba’een (Shi’a Islam) 
- August 5th - World Ant Day 
- August 6th - Hiroshima Day 
- August 7th - International Beer Day 
- August 8th – International Day of the Female Orgasm, International Cat Day, Scottish Wildcat Day, Vore Day 
- August 9th – Nagasaki Day, National Peacekeepers Day, International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (UN) 
- August 10th – Multiversal Underwear Day (Discordian), World Lion Day, International Biodiesel Day 
- August 11th – Dogbomb & Sarah Day, World Steelpan Day 
- August 12th – Zaraday (Discordian), International Youth Day, World Elephant Day, Quantum Cat Day  
- August 13th – End of Safar (Islam), World Organ Donation Day, International Left Handers Day, International Wolf Day, Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day 
- August 13th to 16th – Obon (Shintoist) 
- August 14th - World Lizard Day 
- August 15th - National Acadian Day, Assumption Day (Catholic), World Stray Animals Day/International Homeless Animals Day, World Nimbat Day (D,AET) 
- August 16th - St. Roch (of Montpellier, Furry Saint) 
- August 17th – Marcus Garvey’s Birthday (Rastafarianism), International Black Cat Day, St. Mamas of Caesarea (aka Mammes, Furry Saint)
– August 17th to 21st - Public Service Pride Week
- August 18th - 
- August 19th - World Humanitarian Day, International Orangutan Day, Polygamy Day, World Photography Day 
- August 20th – Khordad Sal (Zoroastrianism), World Mosquito Day, A&W Burgers To Beat MS 
- August 21st – Jashan of Shahrewar (Zoroastrianism), World Senior Citizens Day, A&W Burgers To Beat MS 
- August 21st to Septembewr 7th – Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) 
- August 22nd -  Saint Guinefort (Very Furry Saint) 
- August 23rd - 150th Anniversary of Treaty 6 (also 28th and September 9th), International Blind Dog Day 
- August 24th - International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code 
- August 24th (sunset) - Mawlid/Milad un Nabi (Sunni Islam) 
- August 25th – Linux Birthday 
- August 25th (sunset) - Mawlid/Milad un Nabi (Shi’a Islam) 
- August 26th - World Dog Day (Canada) 
- August 27th – World Lake Day, Full Moon (23:18, Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon )
- August 28th - Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, International Read Comics In Public Day, Otter Appreciation Day 
- August 29th - International Day Against Nuclear Tests, International Go Topless Day 
– August 29th to 30th - International Bat Night
- August 30th - International Whale Shark Day, Frankenstein Day 
- August 31st - International Overdose Awareness Day

August is not dedicated to any Canadian causes that I can find (other than religious ones). August will be MedicAlert Awareness Month and Psoriasis Awareness Month worldwide. Watch for canvassers. 

There are twenty-three (23) Furry conventions in August 2026:
- AnthroIrish, August 1st to 2nd, County Cork, Eire 
- Osaka Furry Fun Festa, August 1st to 2nd, Osaka, Japan 
- Super Furry Fusion, August 2nd, Shanghai, PRC 
- Bratislava FurFest, August 3rd, Bratislava, Slovakia 
- TrashCån, August 5th to 9th, Parpan, Switzerland 
- East, August 5th to 9th, Suhl, Germany 
- Furrydelphia, August 6th to 9th, Philadelphia, PA
- CanFURence, August 7th to 9th, Ottawa, ON 
- South Afrifur, August 7th to 10th, Johannesburg, South Africa 
- Fur Raymi, August 8th to 9th, Lima, Peru 
- Tails of Summer, August 8th to 9th, Richmond, BC 
- IceFurCabin, August 8th to 9th, Iceland 
- Dutch Furcon, August 14th to 17th, Groesbeek, Netherlands 
- Furry Vietnam Eternity/FUVE, August 15th, Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam 
- EuroFurence, August 19th to 23rd, Hamburg, Germany 
- Camp Feral!, August 20th to 24th, Camp Erewhon, Algonquin Park, ON 
- Furthest North, August 20th to 24th, Snow Creek Group Campground, AB 
- Megaplex, August 21st to 23rd, Orlando, FL 
- Pawstral, August 21st to 23rd, Santiago, Chile 
- StratosFur, August 27th to 30th, Houston, TX 
- Aberacon, August 28th to 30th, Port Talbot, UK 
- DenFur, August 28th to 30th, Denver, CO 
- West Aussie Fur Frenzy, August 28th to 30th, Fremantle, West Australia 

Other upcoming events for August (so far) include:
- Festival of Floof, Rose Garden, Gage Park, Hamilton, August 1st @ 13:00
- SPYKE!Party, The Wych, 1150 Davenport Rd, Toronto, August 1st @ 22:00 to 01:00
- Old Spaghetti Factory Monthly Furmeet, 54 The Esplanade, Toronto, August 5th @ 18:30 
- Cozycon Gesture Drawing Art Jam, VRChat, August 8th @ 20:00 
- TAILGATE, Lee/s Palace, 529 Bloor Street W, Toronto, Friday, August 14th, 20:00 to 02:00 
- Cozycon VRChat Games, VRChat, August 15th @ 13:00 
- Camp Feral!, 1 Camp Arowhon Road, Algonquin Park, August 20th to 24th 
- Feral Frequency 4,  209 Geary Avenue, Toronto,  August 28th @ 21:00 to 02:30 
- Steel City Beasts, 324 James Street North, Hamilton,  August 30th @ 15:00 to 21:00

This is the last update of the month, so the complete Unofficial Birthday List is REDACTED. And if you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, provided you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee 

Birfday Otter Update 19JUL2026

HI! hugs 

There are five (5) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Winter Tw Wolf will be forty-three tomorrow (Monday, July 20th). 
- Firestorm 6 will be fifty-six on Tuesday (July 21st). 
- Gryphan Rose will be forty-seven on Wednesday (July 22nd). 
- Blastgoggles will be forty-four on Thursday (July 23rd). Amd 
- Totem will be forty-nine on Friday (July 24th). 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for FireDragon’s birfday next Sunday (July 26th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, Sirus (@SeriousSirus) is hosting the Furry contingent in the London Pride Parade TODAY! (Sunday, July 19th) from 10:00 AM until it finishes. Furry marchers will assemble at the Agriplex parking lot, Western Fairgrounds in London, Ontario. 
NB. As of writing, the parade has NOT been cancelled due to forest fire smoke. The City of London and parade 0rganizers continue to watch the situation closely. Environment Canada’s forecast for London is clear with local smoke by parade time, wind moderate, high 24°, humidex 27°, UV index 8 (pretty high) and an AQHI of 6 (on the high side of moderate). Good luck, stay hydrated!
- Link for Updates – https://telegram.me/+HnAnqFarahZkZjkx 
- New RSVP Address – https://telegram.me/FurryEventsOntario/1119/2499  

Aqua Manokit's Fur Fun In The Sun is also today (Sunday, July 19th) from noon until 8:30 PM (not yesterday, as I said last week. Sorry, I didn’t see the change until it was too late.) Gather for the walk at Woodbine Beach, 1675 Lake Shore Blvd E, Toronto. Everyone is welcome. Bring blankets, food and drinks (but no alcohol). Please wear sunscreen and dress appropriately. There will be kids, so no inflatables, pup hoods or other kink gear. Swim at your own risk, but there is a lifeguard. And please note that this will be the last furmeet Aqua ever hosts.
- for more information – https://telegram.me/Clusterfluff/286687 

PALS will present their Pack Weekend from Wednesday, July 22nd until the 26th for pups nineteen and older. (Please bring ID.)
- for more information – https://PALSEVENTS.CA 

The next Oshawa Furmeet will happen this Friday (July 24th) starting at 8:00 PM at Chasers Bar & Grill, 1300 1king St, Oshawa for dinner and drinks.

And when there’s a furmeet on Friday, there’s usually an Oshawa Virtual Furmeet on Saturday (July 25th) starting at 8:00 PM.
- Info through Telegram, https://telegram.me/oshawavrmeet 

Arrkay and DJ Kay will host a Furry Community Clothing Swap on Saturday (July 25th) from noon until 5:00 PM on the 3rd floor of Roseneath Theatre, 651 Dufferin Street, Toronto. (Use the north side glass doors.) Bring gently used, laundered clothing. Exchange it for something new (to you) or PWYC. You can also leave clothing, accessories and donations. The Roseneath Theatre is a 2SLGBTQ+ theatre company. 
- https://telegram.me/c/2413479984/13/373734?single 

Muzzled: The Beach Episode will be on Saturday (July 26th) from noon until 6:00 PM at Hanlans Point Beach, Toronto Islands, Toronto. It’s the nude beach, so please be nineteen or older. Bring beach chairs or blankets, towels, sunscreen, bug spray, food, drinks, water and fursuits or pup hoods. Bring footwear too, the sand is likely to be hot. Inflatables are welcome at your own risk.
- for more info – https://telegram.me/muzzled_announcements/127 
- Muzzled - https://www.getmuzzled.ca/ 

Camp Conifur is running out of spaces in the cabins! Register and reserve yours sooner, not later (unless you’re planning on a tent. That’s okay too, BTW.) Camp Conifur will take place from Saturday, September 12th to 14th at Camp Wetaskiwin, Short Hills Provincial Park, St. Catharines, Ontario.
- discussion https://telegram.me/CampConifur 
- Website -- https://www.campconifur.ca 

Tailgate’s Telegram links have stopped working.
- For now, you can find them at https://telegram.me/+is8OBx5UI6YwOGZh 
- Their website link still works. https://tailgatefurry.net 

Feral Frequency is having similar problems.
- For now, you can find them at https://telegram.me/+16LlyVW4GlZkNjIx 
- And their website still works, too, - https://www.feralfrequency.net/  

Tickets are on sale for SPIKE!Party. 
- https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/spikeparty-tickets-1993741684047?aff=ebdsoporgprofile 

Fur-Eh!, Brasil FurFest, Noctfurnal and FurCan end today (Sunday, July19th), while Big Sky Camp Paw and Purple Clouds Festival end tomorrow (Monday, July 20th). Six Furry conventions begin this weekend.
- Awoostria, July 22nd to 25th, Wein, Austria 
- Eufuria, July 23rd to 25th, Albany, NY 
- FurEast, July 23rd to 26th, Strasbourg, France 
- Aurawra, July 24th to 26th, Parramatta, NSW, Australia 
- AnthroPomme, July 24th to 26th, Brittany, France 
- Furrest Con, July 24th to 26th, Kyiv, Ukraine (brave souls) 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, July 19th) is the first day of National Drowning Prevention Week in Canada. Drowning is preventable! It ends on the 25th.  

Tomorrow (Monday, July 20th) will be International Moon Day. On this day in 1969, Colonel Neil Armstrong took the first step of a human on the moon. 

Tuesday (July 21st) will be International Lamington Day. Lamingtons are popular in Australia. You soak a square of sponge cake in chocolate sauce, roll it in desiccated coconut, then let it set before serving. Yum! 

On Wednesday (July 22nd), Tish’a B’Av will begin at sunset. This Jewish fast commemorates the destruction of the first Jerusalem Temple (“Solomon’s Temple,”) by Nebuchadnezzar III in 587 BCE and the second Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. They were destroyed on the same day, 655 years apart. For 25 hours, Jews refrain from eating, drinking, bathing, having sex, wearing leather shoes, and it does not put the lotion on the skin. (Jewish fasts usually begin at sunrise, but my sources inform me that this one begins at sunset.) Wednesday will also be the other Ratcatcher's Day; according to Robert Browning’s poem, the Pied Piper led the children of Hamelin away on the 22nd day of July, 1376. (In Hamelin, however, they observe the day on the date given by the Brothers Grimm: June 26th, 1284.) And Wednesday will be Pi Approximation Day, the 22nd day of the 7th month; twenty-two divided by seven is close enough to Pi for some practical purposes. 

Thursday (July 23rd) will be  the Birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie I, a holy day for Rastafarians; the emperor was born in 1892. And Thursday will be Guru Har Krishan Jayanti, the birthday of the 8th Sikh Guru; he was installed as the head of their religion during a smallpox epidemic, so he helped the disease’s victims, no matter who they were, until it claimed his life, too.  

Friday (July 24th) will be Pioneer Day, the Mormon celebration of Joseph Smith’s caravan of Mormon pioneers arriving at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, beyond the reach of those back east who persecuted them. And Friday will be International Self-Care Day; prevent getting sick by taking care of yourself. 

Saturday (July 25th) will be a busy day. 
- Saturday will be the Feast of St James the Great for Orthodox Christians. He was one of the twelve apostles and the first Christian to be martyred. 
- Saturday will be the Jashan of Amurdad. This is a Zoroastrian festival to commemorate the creation of animals. 
- Saturday will be World Drowning Prevention Day. Drowning is a leading cause of death. It is mostly a problem in third-world nations that don’t or can’t implement water safety measures: learn to swim, learn rescue and water safety, set and enforce regulations for boats, implement flood management measures, etc. (And always swim with an otter.) 
- Saturday will be John B Goodenough Day. Professor Goodenough’s birthday. He was a Nobel laureate. He invented Random Access Memory and the lithium-ion battery, as well as less practical things like the rules for finding the sign of magnetic superexchange in materials. He was still working to invent a solid-state battery when he was 100 years old. And that’s more than good enough!
- Saturday will be Furrinalia, the Festival of Furrina. She’s a largely forgotten Roman goddess of freshwater springs, fountains, headwaters and so forth. Not much is known about Her or how She was worshipped; in fact, Her cult wasn’t well known even in Her day. But with a name like Furrina, she’s a natural patron for Furry. (As a Goddess of springs, I think She’s best portrayed as a river otter, but I’m probably biased.) 

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (July 26th). It will be Esperanto Day, International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem and the first day of Shark Week. And next Monday (July 27th) will be the Anniversary of Insulin, Bugs Bunny’s Birfday and Kitchen Sink Day (place or concept). 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, provided you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee

Birfday Otter Update 12JUL2026

HI! hugs 

There are five (5) birfdays listed for this week on the Unofficial Birthday List:
- Verec is forty-six Today! (Sunday, July 12th) Happy Birfday! 
- Randolf R Wolf will be sixty-seven on Wednesday (July 15th). 
- Spatter will be fifty-two, also on Wednesday. 
- Rava will be fifty-one on Thursday (July 16th). And 
- Jessie T. Wolf will be forty-four, also on Thursday. 
Many Happy Returns of your day! 

And heads-up for Winter Tw Wolf’s birfday next Monday (July 20th). 

On the Local Furry Events Desk, this Thursday (July 16th) will be Steel City Beasts from 10:00 PM until 2:00 AM at Andthenyou, 145 Main Street East, Hamilton. The bar is fursuit-friendly; all are welcome. Your DJs will be Jin, Gaknek, weathergirl and Billboard; expect dubstep. 
- more info - https://t.me/SteelCityBeasts/78 
- tickets – https://ra.co/events/2456740 

The Cozycon Monthly Meet this Saturday (July 18th) will be VRChat Games starting at 1:00 PM.
- https://cozycononline.com/ or https://www.twitch.tv/cozycononline 

Aqua Manokit will host Fur Fun In The Sun on Saturday (July 18th) from noon until 8:30 PM at Woodbine Beach, 1675 Lake Shore Blvd E, Toronto. All are welcome. Please bring blankets, food and drinks (no alcohol please). Don’t forget sunscreen, and please dress appropriately. Swim at your own risk, but there will be lifeguards present. There will also be kids, so no inflatables, pup hoods or other kink gear. Please note that this is the last event Aqua Manokit expects ever to host. 
- for more information – https://t.me/Clusterfluff/286687 

Sirus (@SeriousSirus) will host the Furry contingent at the London Pride Parade on Sunday, July 19th. Please gather by 10:00 AM at the Western Fairgrounds in London, Ontario. 
- Link for Updates – https://t.me/+HnAnqFarahZkZjkx 
- more info and to RSVP – https://t.me/c/2413479984/13/37138 

The Clusterfluff Beach Picnic on Saturday, July 18th *has been cancelled.* @Rekshana might reschedule the event later.

Ticket sales for Tailgate will start on Friday, July 24th at 11:00 AM. 
- for more information – https://tailgatefurry.net/ 

Furway and Moonfest end today (Sunday, July 12th), while Furtopia ends tomorrow (Monday, July 13th). Eight Furry conventions begin this week.
- Furtastic, July 13th to 17th, Jutland, Denmark 
- Fur-Eh!, July 16th to 19th, Edmonton, AL
- Big Sky Camp Paw, July 16th to 20th, Helena, MT 
- LondonFurs Summer Weekender, July 17th to 18th, London, UK
- Brasil FurFest, July 17th to 19th, Campinas, SP, Brasil 
- Noctfurnal, July 17th to 19th, Carsonville, MI 
- Purple Clouds Festival, July 17th to 20th, Hude, Germany 
- FurCan, July 18th to 19th, Puebla, Mexico 

On the Holidays and Occasions Desk, today (Sunday, July 12th) is Malala Day, the anniversary of Malala Yousafzai’s impassioned 2013 speech before the United Nations in favour of education for girls (which is still banned in some countries). It’s also her 29th birfday. And today is International Day of Hope. In this time of threats that are mostly imagined, division and exclusion, fear and hate, greed and conquest and winners and losers, hope is all we have left to cling to. 

Tomorrow (Monday, July 13th) will be Jabotinsky Day, the Jewish celebration of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, their great Zionist leader, to commemorate and perpetuate his life and his vision. (It is mostly celebrated in Israel.) Tomorrow will also be Orangemen’s Day, the Irish celebration of the forces of William of Orange defeating the forces of James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The occasion is celebrated in Northern Ireland and in Newfoundland and Labrador. (It is being held on the 13th this year because the 12th is a Sunday.) 

Tuesday (July 14th) will be World Chimpanzee Day, the anniversary of Jane Goodall arriving in Gombe National Park in 1960 to study chimpanzees. And Tuesday will be International Non-Binary People’s Day, an occasion to raise awareness of the issues faced by non-binary people. (The date was chosen because it’s exactly halfway between International Men's Day and International Women's Day.) 

Wednesday (July 15th) will be Confuflux, but that’s a Discordian “holy day,” so we’re not supposed to understand it. Wednesday will also be Bastille Day, the French celebration of the storming of the Bastille prison and the freeing of political prisoners there. It is also known as Fête Nationale Française and is celebrated in parts of the French diaspora, including Quebec. Wednesday will be St. Swithin's Day. Legend has it that if it rains this Wednesday, it will rain every day for forty days. And Wednesday will be Tim Hortons Camp Day; buy a coffee (hot or iced) to help send kids to camp. 

Thursday (July 16th) will be World Snake Day, a day to admire snakes and advocate for their preservation. (It’s true that some of them are dangerous to humans, but they also eat pests. Just admire them from a distance.) And Thursday will be Guinea Pig Appreciation Day, a day of appreciation for the popular pets. 

Friday (July 17th) will be International Firgun Day, an Israeli celebration of taking pleasure in somebody else’s good fortune. (It’s sort of the opposite of schadenfreude.) Friday will also be the 50th anniversary of Canada hosting the Olympics for the first time. Saturday will be World Day for International Justice, the  <anniversary of the founding of the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 1998. And Friday will be World Emoji Day, a celebration of the humble emoji. 

Saturday (July 18th) will be Canada’s Parks Day, “...an annual event where thousands of people participate in fun, educational, family-oriented events in parks and Historic Sites across the country.” And Saturday will be Nelson Mandela International Day, the great freedom advocate’s birthday; he would have been 108.

Here's a heads-up for next Sunday (July 19th). It will be the first day of National Drowning Prevention Week. And next Monday (July 20th) will be International Moon Day. 

If you want to be on the Unofficial Birthday List, or if you'd prefer to be removed or have your entry changed, email me at dotter8@gmail.com, and I'll fix it for you promptly. I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REQUEST IF YOU SEND IT IN ANY OTHER WAY! (Requests should include the name you are or want to be entered under so that I know which "Jim Smith" to change to "Honking Camel.") Please note that the UBL is NOT linked to the TorFur list; if you change or delete your TorFur entry, you must notify me separately. Also, it's my policy never to add people to the UBL unless they ask to be added, changed or removed. Please don't ask for somebody else. However, you can have a Character of Significance on the list, provided you own it. (Ask me.) 

Nips & cuddles, 
-- Dee