Essentials | Tickets | Ambiance | Next
👆🏻 ESSENTIALS
Our programme includes almost 60 events in 9 days, with an expected attendance of 3.000 bears and friends. Most events take place around Yumbo Centre in Maspalomas resort, and many parties are free to attend. However, our most popular events require booking at our online shop. You will receive those tickets by e-mail. Booking a wristband (10 €) is also recommended: you will save a lot of money and you will enjoy priority when booking.
If you have any pre-event question not answered on this page, please contact us. Once here, there is an info-kiosk behind Kiki Bar (Yumbo Centre) where you can personally ask anything, and collect your wristbands and T-shirts.
- Regular events at terrace bars, pubs, cruising clubs (!) and pools, including Europe’s biggest bear pool party.
- Boat Cruises. Imagine hundreds of bears and friends dressed in disguise, partying… on a huge catamaran and floating disco, sailing along the coast!
- Carnival themed events. Most bears gets a costume or at least a hat, so don’t be shy those nights! We have a different theme every year. 2023’s one is the circus, so expect from strongmen to bearded women, and everything between!
- Signature events difficult to find at other bear weeks around, such as our waterpark excursion, cheese & wine tastings, scenic tours, neon beards party, bear tantra and yoga workshops, naked bear cruise, singles and dating parties…
Regarding accommodation, we don’t directly sell rooms, but we recommend to gather at specific, official bungalows and aparments, where some of the official events also take place. Please visit our accommodation page for more info. As official accommodation sell out quickly, any aparment not too far from Yumbo Centre in Playa del Inglés could do it. Bungalows in futher away districts like Maspalomas and San Agustín may not be within walkable distance from our events, but fear not: taxi service is fast, readily available and very cheap here. But whatever the area, please book in advance to avoid dissapointment and high prices!
No. We don’t sell flight tickets or rooms. Our airport (code: “LPA”) is a major international hub, and you will find no problem to get here. On the other hand, Maspalomas is Europe’s biggest beach resort, and there are always available rooms to choose from at any online travel agency.
In short: the absolute minimum would be swimwear, flip flops, suncream, sunglasses… and a light jacket o long sleeve shirt just in case (most of our evening venues are open-air terraces, and some island trips make this advisable too).
Anyway, we recommend the read the following checklist according fo your favourite kind of event:
- Pool parties. You must bring a towel, flip-flops, suncream, a big smile and social attitude 🙂 A waterproof pouch bag could be a good idea as lockers are usually not available during bigger events. If you have not booked your ticket, you feel lucky and want to get a ticket at the door, please bring cash. Once you check-in, you only need money for extra drinks and food, as all facilities around the pool are free to use. The only exception are the luxury balinese beds at AxelBeach, which must be reserved. You spend your time hanging with the bears, dancing, swimming, playing games with the Bear Carnival animation team, dancing again, eating at the restaurant, enjoying the wellness area (jacuzzi, sauna…) or paying a visit to the cruising area. There are shaded areas if you need some rest from our subtropical sun.
- Boat trips. Just bring a towel, flip-flops or sneakers and suncream. Optionally, a pouch bag and a light sweater or jacket for the late hours of the trip could be useful if you are prone to feel chilly.
- Island tours. Please be punctual at the meeting point (usually around Yumbo Centre) and bring comfortable shoes, and a light sweater or jacket if the tour takes you into the center or the north of the island.
- Spa Evenings. You will be given a key for a locker. Flip-flops, towels and water are available for free. However, bringing your own flip-flops is a good idea if you wear an unusual shoe size.
- Bear Wellness and tantra workshops. These unique events require some proper reading of the programme at the event page of the online shop. You don’t need to bring anything special as most attendees go naked, but some feel more comfortable in any light outfit such as a sarong.
- Cruising clubs:
- Bunker, The Factory, Strong Construction, Basement: there are no dresscodes, but you can ask for a locker if needed (be early for that at official events).
- Reds and Zoo: “underwear or naked” dresscode at official events. Closed sport shoes are essential. All your belongings will be safely stored in a coat check room, but you can also wear a pouch bag if needed. You will be given a wristband with a number, to be shown at the bar when you order your drinks. You will pay for those drinks when you leave.
- Bunker, The Factory, Strong Construction, Basement: there are no dresscodes, but you can ask for a locker if needed (be early for that at official events).
Of course! You can address any concern or any important question not answered here direcly to our coordinator:
Chat with the coordinator (by Telegram app)
Once here, you can also visit our Info-Kiosk for personal assistance.
- Location: behind Kiki bar (Yumbo, ground floor)
- Opening time: from 20h. Please see the programme for detailed information.
Anyway, at least one member of the team will be available at every daytime event and most night time events. We are clearly identified with a lanyard and a big “Staff” red tag.
🎟️ TICKETS AND WRISTBANDS
It already is. Please click here to visit.
Tickets for events outside Maspalomas (tours, Wellness Experience) are usually available some months before the event. The rest of the tickets, wristbands and T-shirts are usually available 4-5 weeks in advance. Please enter your e-mail here so we can update you.
After purchasing your ticket, you will receive an e-mail with a QR code. Our doormen will scan that code at the entrance of the event your booked for. Just show it on paper or screen (please set your screen to maximum brightness), and you’re in. If you loose your ticket, we will have a backup list with names and surnames, but your entry will be delayed.
Short anwer
It depends on your personal taste, as there are so many events to choose from! And actually many events are free to enter. However, online booking may be essential for some of the most popular events outside Yumbo Centre (pool parties and all sorts of trips)
Long answer
Unlike some other bear events, there is not one single pass or ticket forcing you to pay for the whole bear week. The programme features nearly 60 events (!), and you have complete freedom to choose which ones do you want to attend.
Many casual parties don’t need any kind of planning, while booking well in advance is required for some signature events. So what to do? Let us explain. Our events can be divided in these categories:
- Free access events: all regular bars and terraces. Say, for example, a costume party at Kiki, a drag show at Sparkles, o the daily “bear trail”.
- Paid access but no booking necessary: cruising clubs. Just pay at the door and you’re in (usually a free drink is included).
- Booking is recommended: pool parties. Yes, you can sometimes get a ticket at the door, but access is never guaranteed. Actually we sold out all pool parties in the last edition.
- Booking is essential: the rest of events outside Yumbo, like boat cruises, spa evenings, island tours, bowling, waterpark, workshops… These signature events sell out every single year weeks before the event.
All official bookable events are available at our online shop. They are also highlighted with the following shopping cart icon on the programme:
If you find our shop is still not available for the upcoming edition, please get to the following links to be notified of the opening by: e-mail, Facebook group, Telegram channel.
- The obvious thing to do is to click on “join waitlist” at the ticket page. You will be instantly notified by e-mail if new tickets are on sale, for example when some some previous bookings are cancelled or the event can be expanded somehow. This happens all the time!
- If you have booked a VIP wristband, please have a look at Non-VIP tickets. They usually sell out first, but maybe you are lucky and there are some of them left.
- Just pop in (but be patient). Sometimes ticket buyers just don’t show up at the door of the party, or at meeting point of a trip. In those case, some extra seats can be sold on a first come-first served basis. Please undestand that you will probably need to wait till we can assist you, quite a lot in the case of a pool party. Also, please bring exact change for that and have an alternative plan for the day, as no one can guarantee you will be in.
Please see an updated list of locations at the VIP page.
No. You are a Bear Carnival’s guest too when you choose an official accommodation. You only need to show your card at the reception desk of the party, and you are in.
Yes, but only in you have access to your ticket, and one of the following cases apply: event postponing/cancellation, official weather alert stopping guests from accessing, or travel restrictions from/to your country. Otherwise, all sales are final; situations such as personal problems or a change of mind should be covered by an inexpensive travel insurance you can get anywhere. Disagreeable weather does not qualify for a refund either, though the organizers would do their best to reschedule the event given the case.
Valid refunds can be requested up to two days before the event. A small 6,5% Paypal fee could be deducted from the refund. Events outside the bear week (such as the Bear Camp or the Bear Wellness Experience) may feature different conditions on their corresponding web pages
👯♂️ AMBIANCE
2.500 new visitors (that is, on top of our huge local community) attended our latest edition. This is not the usual hype or imaginary number, but a proper statistical study based on paid geo-located app information. We expect to grow till 3.000-3.500 in the next few editions.
Yes. 52% of the ticket orders at our online shop are placed by solo travellers, so you get the idea.
How is that? Our bear week is probably the most social bear event in Europe. For the same reason, Bear Carnival is the ideal bear week for a first contact with this kind of event.
How did we get that?
- Not limiting our experience to drinking/clubbing/f*cking/showoff/catwalk events
- Organizing many fun open-air daytime events
- Offering smaller social gatherings where mingling is much easier: from the island tours and spa evenings, to the singles reception or the speed dating party.
If you still feel insecure about coming, please enter our anonymous visitor chat at Telegram and ask bears about the reasons they are coming for. You will see the main one is meeting new friends such as you! Actually, it’s this chat is also good to get some possible contacts in advance, to explore the bear week with.
Our surveys show the most appreciated trait of Bear Carnival (and Gran Canaria in general) is the complete lack of attitude. Trust us, the usual divides of other events do not exist here, and no one feels excluded because of his body or age, for example.
There are so many social events (biggest bear social programme in Europe, actually) that it’s nearly impossible not to fit in and meet new friends.
In one word: community. Bear Carnival is the opposite experience to a circuit party or a commercial Pride. It is not the sterotypical overcrowded, overpriced, bear catwalk you may have in mind. We just imagined the most fun and inclusive holiday possible for visitors to socialize among themselves… and according to our opinion surveys, it seems we achieved that!
None of the parties has a costume dresscode. You would be very welcome with your costume (or uniform, or fetish gear!) at carnival parties, which are marked with the following “mask” icon on the programme.
The suggested theme for Bear Carnival 2023 is “the circus”, so any elastic, extravagant or funny outfit will help at looking as a credible circus character 😉 Anyway, accessories and costumes will be available for purchase at our official fancy dress shop: Party Party, in Tirajana Avenue (Aloe Apartments, just a 5 mins walk fom Yumbo Centre). Just ask for Bear Carnival discount! Other costumes shops in the area are Bazar Ani and Carolan.
There are plenty of choices in the land of Carnival for costumes or just smaller accessories.
- Party Party [directions] Tirajana Avenue (Aloe Apartments, near Cita Centre). Just ask for Bear Carnival discount!
- Bazar Ani [directions] just behind the new Burger King in San Fernando, opposite Playa del Inglés.
- Carolan [directions] in Bellavista shopping centre.
Not as such. Our bear week includes almost 50 events, including social events, fun events, relaxing events… and yes, also daily cruising events where meeting likeminded men is probably easier. Those events are clearly identified in red on the programme. But, as a whole, Bear Carnival is an event catering for all possible expectations you may have for a holiday, including social, relaxing and cultural ones.
Obviously, all cruising parties are also clothing-optional too, and those at Zoo and Reds include an “underwear or naked” dresscode.
All clothing-optional events on the programme are clearly marked with the following icon:
Photos: if you don’t want to appear on any photo, please just wear any lanyard on your neck. We will not take photos of any man wearing a lanyard on his neck, at least not without consulting him first. If someone is accidentally photographed with a lanyard on, the picture will be discarded, or at least he will be digitally obscured before publishing. We will have some free lanyards at the Info-Kiosk and at the reception of the bigger parties, if needed.
Bank statements: tickets sold online will only show “BCARNIVAL” as the vendor. If that’s not discreet enough for you, please get your tickets locally.
E-mail: you may receive an e-mail message on upcoming events after you have bought a ticket. If that’s a problem, you can contact us beforehand, o just unsubscribe when you receive such a message.
We too, honestly. Unlike other events in which everyone is expected to be on a single place at the same time, our programme scatters our 3.000+ men attendance into 50-60 different events catering for different needs. There are events with few dozen men (ie, spa, workshops, island tours) , some with maybe 50-100 men (lunches, socials), and also boat trips with 100-200.
Regarding bars, don’t worry about the cramped venues usual to other events. All our bars are open-air terraces with plenty of space inside and especially around. Yumbo Centre has that name for a good reason!
However, in all truthfulness, there are indeed some super-popular events maybe you avoid if you dislike crowds:
- All pool parties (especially Wet & Hairy, with around 1.000 bears)
- All sex clubs (250-450 bears)
- Any Maspalomas Carnival event (not related to us)
No special recommendation is needed apart from using common sense. We don’t have reports from usual pickpocketing during the bear week, but please don’t leave your belongings unattended. Don’t be shy to ask another visitor to have a look at your stuff while swimming; this is a community event and no one is a complete stranger here.
However: please pay attention to your pockets and bags during Maspalomas Carnival biggest street parties, if they overlap our programme (which is unusual). They can attract thousands of people and additional caution is necessary.
All bear weeks in the World fill the historical need for a safe place in which non-stereotypical queer men can interact with each other. So these events usually have a men-only access policy… “men” including any person who identifies himself as a man. This makes sense when a sizable part of bear events are clothing-optional (especially in sunny Gran Canaria!)
However, we are happy to suggest the following official venues in which any person will feel welcome regardless of their gender identity, partly because nudity is not frequent or not allowed in their premises:
- Aqualand
- AxelBeach
- Barack’Afé
- Buddies
- Divinity
- Holiday World
- Kiki
- Mardi Gras
- Na Und
- Sparkles
- Wunderbar
Even then, please also expect a 99% male attendance at the above venues during the bear week.
Smaller social events such as island tours by CanCanaria have a similar treatment. We have reserved two of them exclusively for our bears: the vineyard and the coffee plantation visits. So please consider them “men-only” too. However, the rest of the bear week tours are open to anyone. Examples include Red Canyon, Rainforest, Volcano Heard and VIP Yacht excursions.
NEXT EVENTS
- Bear Wellness 2024: March 6-8
- Bear Week 2024: March 9-17
Do you still have any doubt? Please contact us