Bear Weeks at the Beach
Provincetown prepares for annual offering, as Ogunquit debuts its inaugural week
Lambeth has one ritual, however, that’s really all his own: ”My favorite thing to do my first day there is to walk down Commercial Street and ‘belly bump’ someone I don’t know.” He follows that with a bloody mary and the tone for the week is set.
While Lambeth is dreaming of his Provincetown Bear Week to come, Lee Castillo is busy pinning down the final details to the new Bear Week on the block, Ogunquit Bear Week, presented by Ogunquit Maine Bears, making its debut July 6 to 13.
”It’s really beautiful, very gay-friendly. The beach is easily accessible. It’s just amazing. And it’s so much less expensive than Provincetown. I was surprised there wasn’t already an event,” says Castillo, who lives in Alexandria. ”While I was there on vacation, I met some of the guys there, bears, and I pitched this idea to them.”
Thanks to Castillo’s effort – and the efforts of his Bear Week recruits – the week is shaping up nicely, anchored at the Admiral’s Inn Resort, and with a full slate of events.
”It’s going to be a lot of fun. Tom Goss is going to be performing. There will be a Bearracuda event, a Growl’r event,” Castillo shares. Notably, if you miss D.C. hometown favorite Goss in Ogunquit, you can catch him the following week performing for the bears in P’town.
As with Provincetown, getting to Ogunquit requires a bit more planning than hoping a plane from Point A to Point B. Castillo recommends flying into either Boston or Portland, Maine, and renting a car for the drive to Ogunquit, about an hour.
However the bears and bear lovers make it to Ogunquit, Castillo is determined to make this new bear week a success.
”This event is my baby,” he says. ”I want the people of Ogunquit to be successful. These are wonderful people who worked their butts off to get marriage equality in Maine [in late 2012]. They are looking forward to this week being a celebration of that. And what a great way to show off their town.”
For more information about Provincetown Bear Week, visit ptownbears.org. For Ogunquit Bear Week, visit ogunquitbears.org.
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