Bear Week Provincetown

Bear Week is Provincetown's biggest week of the summer for bears, cubs, otters and the men who chase them. For seven days in July the tip of Cape Cod is wall-to-wall beards and tank tops, guesthouses are full months ahead, and the town's gay bars plan their whole calendar around the crowd. It isn't one festival behind one gate. It's a town-wide takeover, which makes it an easy first gay trip: you walk out the door and you're in it.

The week runs Saturday to Saturday. PtownBears sells Bear Tags, which get registered participants free or reduced entry to affiliated events, and individual venues stack their own parties on top. The Boatslip runs a tea dance most afternoons, roughly 4 to 7 pm, and the Crown & Anchor, Purgatory and the Red Room carry the nights. There's usually a bonfire at Herring Cove midweek, plus pool parties and BearMania, a separately ticketed party series that runs alongside. The two weekends are the most crowded. The middle days are calmer, and it's easier to get a table or a spot at the bar.