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I hope this is the appropriate place to ask. But I'm interested in going to MFF, but I've never been to a convention before and this is basically the only one I can go to since the others are so far/expensive. My friend told me that MFF is rather "mature" so to speak. I'm pretty much only there to go buy wyrms of my own but I was wondering if there was a way to best avoid being awkward or inappropriate. If someone who's been there could also tell me what to expect so I'm not overwhelmed per say and scared out of my wits, I'd appreciate that as well.

I've heard this be said, recently, myself.

A lot really depends on personal experience.
I've been attending Midwest Furfest for years now, and honestly I'm not sure what the issues are.
I will say that it isn't as 'family friendly' as Anthrocon, which from my limited knowledge, goes out of their way to avoid that side of the fandom.

My experiences:
- In the Dealer's Den, anything of adult content is required to be covered (usually by stickers or post-it notes) and binders of adult material are clearly labeled.
- In the Dealer's Den, avoid the crowd of people around the stall with the big, red zip-up suitcases. These are adult toys.
- There is one adult section in the art-show, which requires an adult badge. They do check.
- There are a few adult drawing panels, or adult shows such as 2 the Ranting Gryphon, or Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

The above are all fairly common for almost every convention. There are a few who are more strict on certain adult products, but all of them require them to either be hidden, or otherwise not out there and available for the public.

Besides that...

MFF does tend to have a somewhat college-aged crowd, although this is pretty normal for the fandom. I have heard of people having issues with people being drunk, but alcohol is NOT allowed in conspaces (there is a bar and restaurant that serve alcohol in the hotel), and clearly drunk people WILL get told by security to go back to their rooms. I would guess there's about the same level of rowdiness/drunkness as with the average convention. I'm pretty sure some are worse.

My suggestions for avoiding anything too 'mature':
- Make sure when browsing at the dealer's tables to ask for the clean books of their prints.
- Don't stay too late in the evening. Usually, 9-10pm, people have gone to dinner, and have gotten themselves a bit drunk, and are going to go be crazy at the dances.
- Be aware of what shows/panels specifically mention that they are 18+ only.

All this said, I do not believe at all that MFF is a convention where younger audiences, or those who don't like the mature aspects can't go and have fun. There's a lot of fursuiting events, general panels, and clean artwork for people to enjoy. In all my years attending the con, I've seen a few drunks, and a few people who break the rules, and a few creepers, but that's normal for any convention, especially any niche convention.

Edit/P.S.:

You can read up more on MFF's policies by checking out their website and searching for the word 'adult'. There are entire sections under both the Dealer's Den and Artist's Alley pages which detail what is required. There is also a family-friendly room of the Artist Alley where artists will not sell adult works, period. That is the Vienna Room. (Again, see the following pages)

https://www.furfest.org/page/dealersden_orig
https://www.furfest.org/page/artistalley

Also see:

https://www.furfest.org/page/code

For general information on convention conduct and what is/isn't against the rules.
It also includes information about minors, and about 18+ events, as well as information about their policies on alcohol, etc.