Identifying as a gay bear is something you can do for yourself or others will label you that. And both things are a wonderful occurrence. You’ll be part of a great group of men, arguably one of the most accepting of the sub gay male cultures. And yes, it can be a culture.
Bear events help that culture and the positive bear reputation flourish. They’re all over the country and world. We were fortunate enough to not only attend a fun bear event during Halloween week, but we were also at one of the best gay resorts in the world.
The plans are already in the works for Key West Bear Weekend for 2025 and the website is ready for you to visit. Let’s hear from the weekend’s organizers, Bear World Magazine about how this year went.
Key West Bear Weekend Photo Recap
Key West Bear Weekend 2024 wrapped up recently and it was another amazing weekend in the paradise city of Key West at the friendliest bear run in the US!
Check out our picture recap of the weekend to see just what fun was had at the Halloween Party, various pool parties and the charity fundraiser GLOW party – all photos by Tristan Sutphin.
The dates for Key West Bear Weekend 2025 have already been confirmed as October 29th to November 2nd, and early-bird loyalty rate passes are already on sale at the bargain price of $100 – the lowest price these passes will ever be, so grab them now here.
The full schedule for Key West Bear Weekend 2025 will be revealed in the new year and you can sign up to receive the latest updates at keywestbearweekend.com
Definitely go take a peek at the pictures, we will share some of them here for you to enjoy. Photos by Tristan Sutphin.
I think what I like most about bear parties is you come as you are, you are who you are, and then you get to like who you are. You’re in a happy place, being happy, alongside happy people. Oh yes, you will have those gay bears that do like the drama and the attention, but there’s just a lot less of that.
I’ll put in a little disclaimer or clarification when it comes to bear events. I like these type of bear events that are not all thump thump thump, being held in dark dancing venues where it’ll be more so muscle bears wearing harnesses or aberzombie shirts, drinking water, and already having their fellow muscle friends to socialize with. You’ll learn which events are more mainstream bear events and less posing parties. I did a post about this (The Evolution of Gay Bears: Are Muscle Bears the Gay Goldilocks?) where I mentioned that bears as a whole are welcoming and inviting, but the sub bear culture of muscle bears does tweak the flow of the bear soup.
I actually stopped going to many bear events here in Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors as they were the thump thump muscle muscle bear subculture. This was not the case with Key West Bear Weekend. There was no worry about being accepted. Should I not swim over and say hello to those people? That never crossed my mind, well, unless they were busy being busy with each other, unless I wanted to join in.
And that does happen in the pool at the Island House Resort Key West. And it happens in other places on the resort, I mean, they do have a red room that people visit often to meet and greet other people, wink wink.
And if you do not know about Island House, you should. It has been an institution in Key West gay culture as well as it is internationally known as one of the best gay resort in the world. Jeff and his staff are epically amazing, their bartenders and waitstaff are stellar, and the food, everyone you ask, they say it is some of the if not the best in Key West.
This video is how much Island House does for the community around Pride. Fun times had by all.
And this video, I love it because it addresses the hate we in Florida get because of little ronnie desantis (no caps for him) and his putrid policies that give us a bad name. I tell people I live in Broward County, not Florida as Broward County is the most diverse county in Florida and it went for all blue in this last election.
Key West is similar and has been that way for such a long time. Thanks Island House for this support for gay Florida.
So if you’re ready, go check out Key West Bear Weekend 2025 and Island House and book soon as spots will fill up fast.
