Reykjavík Bear draws 120 international guests to Iceland

About 120 international guests are taking part in Reykjavík Bear, a queer festival currently being held in the city, mbl.is reports. The event focuses not only on entertainment but also on body respect, solidarity and the freedom to be oneself.

“It has gone really well so far,” said Sigurður Júlíus Guðmundsson, chairman of the Icelandic Bear Association.

The festival began on Thursday and is being held for the sixth time. Guests have sampled Icelandic food, toured the Golden Circle and visited lagoons. They have also attended the Lava Show and FlyOver Iceland.

Sigurður was speaking from a bus with festival guests when mbl.is contacted him. The group had just passed Geysir on its way back to Reykjavík.

Much of the weekend is spent together during the day, giving guests a chance to get to know one another away from the dance floor and build connections that can continue after the festival.

The annual Top Off party was held on Friday evening at Kiki and 22. Guests were encouraged to take off their shirts and feel comfortable in their bodies, although nobody was required to do so.

“We are trying to create a small safe space where people can simply experience that,” Sigurður said.

The bear community has roots in gay men’s culture and was partly formed as a space for people who did not identify with prevailing standards of appearance. In Iceland, the word “bangsi” is used for what is called a “bear” in English. The stereotype is often a large, bearded or hairy man, but Sigurður said the community is much more diverse.

“You do not have to look like a bear to come to us,” he said.

He said preconceived ideas about how people should look still exist both within and outside the queer community. What matters most within the bear community, he said, is respect for others regardless of appearance.

The weekend’s highlight will be the crowning of a new Mr. Reykjavík Bear at Austurbæjarbíó on Saturday. The competition was first held last year, and Sigurður said similar contests have become more common across Europe. He described it as a kind of “Miss Iceland for large men.”