Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ's

Reffurence takes place in 2023, week 31.

Main convention period: Thu 3 aug - Sun 6 aug
Early arrival: Wed 2 aug after 15:00
Late departure: Mon 7 aug until 12:00
Mercure Antwerp City South is located at the Desguinlei 94 in the city of Antwerpen in Belgium.

GPS:51.194751, 4.40636
Most of our updates will be distributed amongst our social media channels. You can find them on the right side of this page. Another popular way of following our updates is with the use of our announcement Telegram group. For our press releases and bigger news-like articles, we would like to redirect you to our blog.
Yes, Reffurence does accept sponsors. For every possible sponsor who registers with us, we will offer tailor-made solutions depending on the type of sponsorship you would like to contract. In all cases, we would like to refer you to our business transparency policy on our policies page for more information. Please contact us at relations@reffurence.com.
The "Updated" timestamp on the top of the policy page merely means that the page has been touched in any way. This includes internal nodes, and therefore doesn't necessarily indicate when the according rules have been changed. If you really need to know when and what was changed, inquire with the support team.
Many citizens from foreign countries need a visa to be allowed to enter Europe. We would recommend visitors from outside of the so-called "Schengen-Zone" to visit, https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/ or https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/services/travel_to_belgium/visa_for_belgium or https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/travel/visas-for-the-netherlands/short-stay-schengen-visa.

We are sorry, but as Reffurence we are not able to assist you in getting a visa for your attendance. This is unfortunately something you have to take care of yourself.
Yes, that is not a problem. All our event badges will be printed with the nickname that you filled into our registration system. It is allowed to hand your event badge over to your spotter, but please keep in mind: you need to be able to show your even badge when requested. So keep your spotter near you! :)
Unfortunately the attendance of minors (legal age is 18 in the Netherlands and Belgium) is not possible to enter Reffurence. You have to be at least 18 years old by the first day of the convention, neither any written permissions nor the actual presence of your parents or any other guardian does change this.

Your age will be checked on the first day of the convention. If you are 17 at the time of your registration but turn 18 before the first day of the event, you are allowed to register and attend. However, you still need permission (as you are 17 years of age at the time of registration) from your parents or your legal guardian in order to pay for your tickets.

Since you are required to present a valid, official identification (eg. ID or passport) at the time you enter the event, your age will be checked. If you are in possession of falsified documentation, Reffurence is required to get the authorities involved. This would result in an permanent ban from future events.
All weapons are banned from the convention, even the ones that are part of your suit. You must not carry any weapons anywhere on the premises of the hotel or the convention center at any time. In this context, any object which is, according to its nature, suitable for inflicting injuries to persons or animals or to do damage to property will be considered a weapon.

Realistic weapon look-alikes, including realistic looking NERF guns and similar are prohibited. Soft-air, gas weapons and alike are also strictly forbidden as they are illegal to carry on public events according to national law.

For further information please refer to the "Weapons" section in the Rules of Conduct.
Yes there are special services available in the venue and during the event. If you notify us that you're handicapped, you're able to do so in our registration system, the registration team will contact you prior of the start of the event with specific questions and services that are available for you. Together with the registration team you can then we can accommodate you as best as possible with all your requests.
It's allowed to book another hotel than the main venue of the event and purchase daytickets. However, for the main venue, it is not possible to make a reservation by phone, only reservations made by our system will be accepted by the hotel.

Registration FAQ's

For online pre-registration, we accept the four major credit/debit cards, Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express. We also accept Maestro (iDeal, Bancontact), SEPA, SOFORT, Giropay, KBC/CBC, Belfius. We do not accept cash-by-mail, cash-on-site or Paypal.

For on-site sales (i.e. Daytickets, merchandise, etc.), we accept cash (EUR only) along with Visa, V PAY, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, or Union Pay logo as well as NFC payments via Google and Apple Pay.

For our Registration system, Reffurence uses Mollie.
For our on-site sales, Reffurence uses SumUp.

Please note that all transactions will be charged in EUR.
If there is no way that you can register online, please contact registration@reffurence.com and we will see what can be done to accommodate you.
Confirmation emails are sent to all attendees after pre-registration and after registration, but sometimes they get lost or routed into your spam folder. If you have registered and have not yet received confirmation, you may send us an email inquiring about the status of your registration. You may also check your pre-registration status on the website.
Not to worry, there are plenty of options left. First of all, please register as a single-sleeper, in that case, you're already on the waiting list!

Secondly, keep an eye out for people that want to trade their tickets, if there are people that contacted our registrations team and are unable to find people that want to trade places, there will be an announcement made on our social media channels (Twitter and the Telegram Announcements channel).

Third of which, you're always able to purchase day-tickets, and seek accommodation elsewhere. Although you won't get the nifty combination discount, we're still happy to welcome you at Reffurence.
It is not allowed to resell tickets by ticket selling websites. The transfer of tickets is solely done by contacting registration@reffurence.com and notifying them about the upcoming changes that you and the receiving party agreed to swap tickets.

Payment of those swapped tickets has to be done between the parties, Reffurence will not ask a(n extra) payment for the services of changing a reservation. Tickets (including all extras and bookings attached to them) can be transferred.

Both parties must send an e-mail to registration@reffurence.com using the e-mail they signed up with, along with their user id's, (which can be found on their account page) to confirm the transfer. The registration team will then transfer the registration.
Please contact support@reffurence.com, they will assist you further. This includes the changing of nicknames, please be aware that the badges are printed a month before the first day of the event.
Great! After the registration period has ended and all the rooms are assigned to the attendees, our online registration system will open up for daytickets, (extra) sponsorpacks and merchandise. You will be able to purchase it online and receive your items when you arrive at the event, or purchase them at the event.
Since you are assigned to a virtual-room, the room host of that virtual-room is the one that is required to register that room during the registration period. You as an invitee to that room are not needed for that step. However, if the room host is unable to register the room on that day, please contact registration@reffurence.com.
Unfortunately, after you will receive a reminder email, the reservation will be cancelled automatically and you will not be enrolled anymore. Your spot will then be filled up with the attendees on the waiting-list. For individual cases, special questions and requests, please contact registration@reffurence.com.
Generally, it is allowed to enter the public areas of the hotel without registering for the event. You can also eat in the restaurants as a regular guest without a event badge. You, however, are bound to the hotel rules and have to comply with their policies when doing so.

You are definitively not allowed to enter any of the event spaces, like the Art Show, the Dealer’s Den, Dance Floors and Panel Rooms. Attending guestrooms is also not allowed without a event badge. If you are found in violation of the exclusive areas without a badge, you will be given a stay away order by the hotel and a subsequent unlimited ban from future conventions.

If a Security team member finds you sleeping anywhere except in your assigned guest-room, you will be asked to return to your designated bed, wherever that may be. Please be aware that this behaviour might qualify as "Ghosting" and can result in a severe penalty.

Venue FAQ's

Mercure Antwerp City South is located at the Desguinlei 94 in the city of Antwerpen in Belgium.

GPS:51.194751, 4.40636
The parking at the venue is limited, and only available to the hotelguests. Unfortunately the number of spaces to the venue are extremely limited (45 in total). Therefore, attendees of Reffurence are not allowed to make use of the day-parking of the venue (which is 15 euro's per day) and are asked to use the public parking spaces around the venue. In the close vicinity of the venue there are plenty of paid and free parking spots available, and the venue has a drop-off zone available for everyone.

More information can be found at the venue page.
The breakfast offered at the hotel is included with the residential tickets. Breakfast is served from 0900 till 1030 in the restaurant. Lunch and diner are not included in the residential tickets. However, the venue allows for dinner reservations in the restaurant, but we always encourage our residential- and day- attendees to go out in the city and go on an adventure to find some tasty grub!

More information can be found at the venue page.
The hotel offers a "single sleeper room" and a "twin sleeper room". The beds for the twin sleeper room can be separated (in two single beds) if needed.

More information can be found at the venue page.
The hotel WiFi is present and free of charge, however, it is limited and possibility not the greatest service for uploading clips to Youtube or streaming Twitch.
That's not a problem. During the creation of your virtual room, you will have the option to select 'early arrival' or 'late departure'. This will increase the length of your stay with a day prior and/or after. And the cost of that room will be calculated by the number of people choosing for that option.

Are the early arrival and/or late departure not enough days? Please contact registration@reffurence.com and we will check the options with the hotel. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee a "one room" stay when having a greater period than our early arrival and late departure period.
For attendees arriving prior to the event, we request as a courtesy to other venue guests and business groups, please wait until after the registration on the first event day to fursuit.
Smoking and vaping (e.g., electronic cigarettes) are not permitted anywhere within the hotel building, including the hotel rooms. A considerable cleaning fee will be charged for smoking or vaping.
Yes, you can, but only using doorknob hangers. (Or do get creative and find another smart way to display your doorsign without taping it to the door!) Complimentary hangars are available at the Reffurence info stand. Signs are not allowed to be taped to any part of the door, door jamb, or walls.

Any material that is found to be inappropriate and/or offensive will be confiscated and brought to the Reffurence info stand to pick up later. Please note that any damage done to doors by adhesives or other methods used to post signs will be billed to the room occupants. Also, some innovative furries have engineered signs hung from string over their hotel room door.
Not all hotels accept animals. Please get in touch with us at registration@reffurence.com during your registration process so that we can do our best to accommodate your wishes. Service animals are not pets and are therefore exempted from the pets policy. However, anybody bringing a service animal is still required to contact registration, so that we can properly accommodate their needs.

Having a service dog in your room might incur extra cleaning fees.
The consumption of food or drinks purchased from outside of the event hotels is not permitted, except in private hotel rooms.
In general, yes, room parties are allowed. However, the maximum capacity of a room is determined by the amount of beds present combined with the amount of chairs in the room.

Please keep in mind that you may not disturb people in any other hotel rooms. Please keep the noise down during the quiet hours and adhere to the hotel rules.
First of all, if you did place the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the outside of your door, well, there's your problem! Otherwise, if you are not satisfied with the services delivered by the hotel, please contact the hotel front-desk or, contact our support at support@reffurence.com.

Roomshare FAQ's

Yes, you are able to book an entire room for yourself. However, due to capacity constraints, it will only be allowed for rooms that allow for a maximum of two people. Rooms with more capacity than two, are excluded from the "private room" option.
Virtual rooms are createable at the start of the pre-registration period, until the end of the pre-registration period. In this period you are allowed to create your private room and invite all your friends that you want to have in your room.
The set-up of a virtual room is easy, in your account, you will be able to choose the type of room you would like to set-up prior to the registration deadline. Before the registration deadline you will be able to invite friends over to join your virtual room. (Not for single rooms, because they can only have one person). You're free to disband the virtual room and select another option from the rooms available. After the registration deadline the virtual rooms will be permanent.
If you don't set up your virtual room, you won't be able to register that room. If your personal information is correct, but you didn't invite your friends, the room will be assigned single-sleepers after the registration has ended. In order to be assigned a room with all your friends invited, the whole room needs to be filled and complete and all personal information should be present in our registration system.
If a room share has not reached its full capacity (e.g., a room with space for 4 guests only has 2 invitees in the virtual) by the time the registration closes then single-sleepers might be assigned to that empty spot in your room.