Sitges Bears Week is the biggest bear gathering in Europe, and the 2026 edition runs from 4 to 13 September. More than ten thousand bears, chasers, admirers and muscle bears take over the seaside town south of Barcelona for ten days of pool parties, beach afternoons, themed dinners and open-air dancing. The atmosphere is what regulars come back for: a large event that still feels like a village where everyone ends up knowing each other by the third night.
The week is run by Bears Sitges, an organisation that has been bringing together bears, chubbies, matures and admirers since 2001. Beyond the September week it runs outings, games and social meet-ups all year round, and actively promotes the cultural and social heritage of the town itself. That community background explains the tone of the event: welcoming, unpretentious, and firmly rooted in Sitges rather than parachuted into it.
The open-air Bear Village is set up at the bottom of Calle Bonaire, right on the seafront at Passeig de la Ribera, and opens from Monday 7 to Sunday 13 September. It runs nightly from 9pm to 3am, with an extra half hour on Friday and Saturday. Every night has its own theme, its own DJs and its own crowd, and the village doubles as the meeting point where the whole week converges before people scatter to the official after-parties.
The headline contest, Mr Bear Sitges, takes place on the Saturday in front of thousands of spectators and remains the most watched moment of the week. Around it, the programme mixes a White Night in the Bear Village, a Bears Dinner at the Hotel Calipolis, a Bear Pool Party at the Clos de la Plana villa on the Friday, a Drag Brunch Bear Edition at Le Patio, sunset tea dances with guest DJs, and a PopAIR barbecue on the Saturdays. Both Sundays, Bears Bar hosts its underwear parties from 6pm to midnight, and both Fridays it holds the leather meet-up.
This is not a week spent recovering in a hotel room. The beach volleyball tournament, the Bear Market with its craft, clothing and accessory stalls, the pool parties and the group meals fill the daylight hours. Sitges has beaches within walking distance of everything, including the well-known gay beaches to the south of town, so the natural rhythm of the week is beach in the afternoon, village at night.
Two things sell out during Sitges Bears Week, and they sell out at the same time: the flagship parties and the beds. Settle both before you think about anything else.
Prices and ticket sales go through the official site, bearssitges.org, and through the associated ticketing platforms bearsevents.com and sitgestickets.com, which also sell the Bear Village VIP zone. The advice from everyone who has done it is the same: book early. Pool parties routinely sell out weeks in advance, and so does accommodation in a town of this size, which fills completely during the week.
Sitges sits about forty minutes from Barcelona by train and roughly the same from Barcelona airport by road, which makes it an easy add-on to a city trip. The town is small and walkable, so a hotel or apartment anywhere in the centre puts you within a few minutes of the seafront and the village. Note that many of the venues are open-air: September evenings on the Mediterranean are warm, but bring something for the small hours.
If September does not work, the same organisation runs a smaller spring edition, from Thursday 30 April to Sunday 3 May 2026, which gathers around two thousand five hundred people. It is a good option for a first visit: same town, same spirit, considerably smaller crowds and easier accommodation.
The dates are 4 to 13 September 2026, with the Bear Village open from 7 to 13 September on the seafront at Passeig de la Ribera. The organisation asks that enquiries go through bearssitges@gmail.com, and posts its updates on Instagram at @bearssitgesofficial. Full programme, prices and tickets are published on bearssitges.org as the event approaches, so check it again a few weeks before travelling.
Ten days, a Mediterranean beach town, ten thousand people who came for the same reason and an organisation that has been doing this for more than twenty years. Sitges Bears Week is the reference bear event of the European calendar, and the fact that it is still run by a local community association rather than a touring brand is precisely what keeps it good.
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