Puerto Vallarta isn’t just a gay-friendly destination; it’s a vibrant hub pulsating with life and unforgettable experiences tailored specifically for LGBTQ+ travelers. Immerse yourself in a world of electrifying gay events happening year-round, catering to diverse tastes and interests.
From sizzling pool parties and heart-thumping dance bashes to captivating theater shows and cultural extravaganzas, Puerto Vallarta’s event calendar is guaranteed to keep you enthralled. This dynamic city doesn’t just offer a place to stay – it offers an unparalleled atmosphere where you can express yourself freely, celebrate with your chosen family, and create memories that will last a lifetime.
The Official 2026 Puerto Vallarta Event Guide
Master Schedule for Winter & Spring 2026
| 2026 Event | Key Dates | Authority Tip |
| Beef Dip Bear Week | Jan 24 – Feb 1 | The “Will Call” center is at Blue Chairs. Don’t go to the bars first! |
| Queenceañera 2026 | Jan 18 – Jan 25 | Hosted by La Queen of PV; get the 13th-anniversary pass for VIP access. |
| Vallarta Pride | May 17 – 24 | The “Block Party” on Lazaro Cardenas now begins immediately after the parade. |
| Fairyland Festival | Mar 12 – 15 | A 4-day Queer House Music takeover at Mantamar. |
2026 Puerto Vallarta LGBTQ+ Insider Authority Tips
| Event | 2026 Dates | Insider “Authority” Tip |
| Queenceañera 13th Anniversary | Jan 18 – 25 | Venues: La Catrina, Social Club, Anónimo, 161. Cash-only tickets at door! |
| Beef Dip Bear Week | Jan 24 – Feb 1 | Host Hotel: Blue Chairs is “Ground Zero.” Pick up tags at the Welcome Center. |
| Fairyland Music Festival | Mar 12 – 15 | Held at Mantamar. This is the 2nd annual Queer House Music beach takeover. |
| Vallarta Pride | May 17 – 24 | New for 2026: Official “Sister Pride” partnership with NYC Pride! |
Table of Contents
- 1 The Official 2026 Puerto Vallarta Event Guide
- 2 So what are the major upcoming Puerto Vallarta Events for the gay traveler to Puerto Vallarta?
- 3 What are the major gay circuit and theme parties in Puerto Vallarta?
- 4 Here is a gay event calendar organized by the month
- 5 Frequently Asked Questions: Puerto Vallarta Gay Events 2026
So what are the major upcoming Puerto Vallarta Events for the gay traveler to Puerto Vallarta?
Beef Dip Bear and Leather Week. Look for these at the end of Jan/Feb. Steve Buzcek from Canada brings his world-famous gay bear and leather week to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Held annually the last week of January, this popular fetish week sees thousands of bears from all over the world roaming the streets of Puerto Vallarta. Popular events during the week include dance parties at CC Slaughter’s and Mantamar Beach Club, as well as a charity fundraiser swimwear fashion show benefiting Los niños de Magisterio, Setac, and Rise Orphanage. Beef Dip has helped raise over $44,500 in the last few years for these charities.
Puerto Vallarta Mardi Gras You should confirm Official Sources
.Historically, Mardi Gras Carnival in Puerto Vallarta was celebrated only one day on Fat Tuesday. The event consided of a very popular parade normally begining in the hotel zone and proceeds through the world-famous Malecon ending on Olas Altas. Previous parades saw over 30,000 cheering residents and tourists from all walks of life together on the city streets to be wowed by floats and parade participants celebrating the diversity of our city.
Unfortunately, the Mardi Gras Carnival was canceled in 2019 by the organizers Tim Longpre. It was resumed by different organizers and held Feb 22, 23 and 24, 2024 with surprisingly great success. It was held a second year by the same organizers February 20th to 22, 2025. However there was no 2026 Carnival Mardi Gras in Puerto Vallarta.
Fairyland Festival 2026: The Global Queer House Takeover
March 12–15, 2026, marks the return of Fairyland 2026 for its second annual edition. This four-day festival has officially redefined “Spring Break” in Puerto Vallarta, shifting the focus from standard circuit music to a curated, global house music sound.
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The 2026 Lineup: Fairyland has secured an incredible roster of over 22 world-class DJs, including house legends The Shapeshifters, Horse Meat Disco, David Penn, Shermanology, and The Illustrious Blacks.
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Venues: While Mantamar Beach Club is the heart of the action with its iconic beachfront pool parties (running noon to 10 PM), the festival also utilizes The Top Sky Bar for sunset sessions.
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Authority Tip: Tickets for 2026 are moving fast on Eventbrite. If you are staying at the Almar Resort or The Tryst, you are literally steps away from the “Main Stage.” For those visiting from out of town, we recommend booking your cabana at Mantamar by early February, as they sell out long before the first beat drops.
Between March and April is Semana Santa
. Holy Week is one of the busiest times in Puerto Vallarta jammed with people, parties, and events. CC Slaughter’s normally imports international DJs and it is usual to find Jubileo/Sunland sponsoring gay circuit parties at Mantamar. Industry Night Club PV also has circuit parties lasting several nights with international DJs flying into Puerto Vallarta.
Puerto Vallarta Gay Pride
New for 2026: The NYC-PV Sister Pride Alliance
As we look toward May 2026, Vallarta Pride has officially activated its historic “Sister Cities of Pride” partnership with NYC Pride. This binational pact, signed at the birthplace of Pride in Manhattan, transforms the 2026 festival into a global stage. Expect a massive delegation from New York, exclusive artist and activist exchanges, and a coordinated 2026 campaign focused on making Puerto Vallarta the premier inclusive destination for the East Coast market.
(held around Memorial Day in the US) is a week festival of arts and culture events, concerts, entertainment, films, fun, lots of partying, and our fabulous Pride Parade. First organized in 2013, Puerto Vallarta gay pride has been recognized as one of the best gay pride events in the world. Also, the gay pride event in 2016 hosted the largest number of press core media journalists ever visiting Vallarta in its history for any event. Don’t miss the week of fun and celebrating diversity south of the border.
September 16th “El Grito”
is Mexican Independence Day. Puerto Vallarta is full of LGBT national travelers enjoying the gay beach. Several gay travel agencies bring groups from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Colima, Tepic and Leon to enjoy a nice weekend of parties on the gay beach in front of Blue Chairs and Manatamar.
Latin Fever
was the original circuit party that put Puerto Vallarta on the map for gay clubbing and nightlife. Latin Fever was first held in Puerto Vallarta during Thanksgiving weekend in 2006 at Club Manana. Will Gorges, a Los Angeles party promoter started Latin Fever in the late 90’s and brought the name to Puerto Vallarta. This party eventually became a driving force in reshaping the Puerto Vallarta gay nightlife. Will produces special events around the world and has built a reputation on meticulously produced parties in some of the world’s most exciting locations like Long Beach, San Diego, Laguna Beach, Malibu, Aspen, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Puerto Rico.
Will and Club Manana went their separate ways and Club Manana continued the parties renaming them Vallarta Fever in 2011, 5 years into the party. Vallarta Fever was used until Manana closed in 2013. Will came back to Puerto Vallarta in 2015 doing his New Year’s Eve parties at the Oscars. He used the name Latin Fever only in 2015, eventually dropping the name altogether.
Nothing compares to New Year’s in PV. Look for White Party Puerto Vallarta at Mantamar and Industry Nightclub and Will George to bring an unforgettable New Year’s Eve party to Oscar’s with special DJs, fireworks, and more. Celebrate the New Year in style with great music, good times and hot guys!
What are the major gay circuit and theme parties in Puerto Vallarta?
White Party Puerto Vallarta.
The first White Party in Puerto Vallarta was November 27- November 30, 2015, at Mantamar Beach Club. It was headlined by two of the industry’s powerhouse DJs – Alex Acosta and Cindel – alongside local talents DJ Ramses and Daniel Sandoval. In the White Party Palm Springs tradition, big surprises were unveiled along the way, including top performers, White Party signature Go-go Gods, and designer Andrew Christian giveaways. Jeffrey Sanker’s WHITE PARTY Palm Springs started as a small celebration with only a few hundred people in the desert in 1989.
It has evolved to become the world’s largest gay dance music festival, attracting more than 30,000 attendees from every corner of the globe. WHITE PARTY PALM SPRINGS founder and producer Jeffrey Sanker says, “ WHITE PARTY has become more than just a party. It is an institution. After 25 years, it’s time we bring the festival outside North America, and what better place to do it than in Puerto Vallarta.”
Bearadise International Bear Festival Weekend Parties
. What used to be known as Vallarta Bear Weekend has evolved to Bearadise, bringing clothing-optional bear and leather pool parties to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Vallarta Bear Weekend first made its premier in 2018 during the Beef Dip Bear Week and during Gay Pride.
This fresh new concept was created by local PV bears Christian Serrano & Daniel Amarillas. The parties are a place for all men, hairy or smooth. A big part of their concept and what makes them unique the venues where Bearadise hosts events are private and men only. They provide a clothing-optional experience so that bears can be in their natural habitat in a true BEARADISE. Expect to see these events around the Beef Dip Week, Puerto Vallarta Gay Pride Week, and maybe even during November.
Two legendary Matinee Circuit Parties were planned for Puerto Vallarta in 2020. Matinee Group and H20 scheduled two legendary gay circuit parties to Puerto Vallarta for the very first time. Matinee was to produce the Circuit Festival and LaLeche parties at Mantamar Beach Club as part of the H20 festival March 27-29, 2020!
However, both were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have been rescheduled. H2O Festival Puerto Vallarta was being produced by the team at Hydrate Nightclub (Chicago) in conjunction with Matinée Group (Madrid), Reload (Los Angeles) & Nocturnal (San Francisco) to bring you the best party weekend Puerto Vallarta has ever seen! Hydrate has been producing the popular outdoor dance party at Market Day’s Chicago each year, as well as booking the biggest and best international DJs for its dance floor for the past 17 years. So stay tuned for the return of this party to Puerto Vallarta soon.
The first Papa Party in Puerto Vallarta was to be held during the 1st VALLARTA HEAT FESTIVAL of May 2020. This festival was to be created and produced by Eliad Cohen, Idan Matalon Almar Resort & Mantamar Beach Club, and Industry Night Club PV. The 3-day Festival scheduled 7 parties and 15 International DJs from all over the world, special performances, Shangela’s amazing show (from Rupaul’s drag race). The circuit party was also canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is to be rescheduled.
Jubileo Hector Quintero from Mexico City specializes in producing premium gay events and circuit parties especially for the Mexican national market since August 2016. Jubileo produces Sunland and Jubileo LuXXXury Edition series parties in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Guatemala, and Bogota. Jubileo also produces Latin American Pride in Mexico City. Hector was named creative director of Jeffrey Sanker’s White Party Palms Springs July 1, 2018.
Here is a gay event calendar organized by the month
- Beef Dip Bear and Leather Week. Steve Buzcek from Canada brings his world famous gay bear and leather week to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Held annually the last week of January, this popular fetish week sees thousands of bears from all over the world roaming the streets of Puerto Vallarta. Popular events during the week include dance parties at CC Slaughter’s and Mantamar Beach Club, as well as a charity fundraiser swimwear fashion show benefiting Los niños de Magisterio, Setac and Rise Orphanage. To date Beef Dip has helped raise over $44,500 in the last few years for these charities.
May
- May is a month filled with culture and culinary events. Cinco de Mayo is a date celebrating a popular event in Mexico, but in reality is more celebrated in the US than in Mexico. So don’t’ look for any big parades but you will enjoy other Americans in Puerto Vallarta celebrating the wonderful life in Mexico.
- Restaurant Week food festival takes place every year from May 15 to June 10. During these two weeks, the participating restaurants offer innovative three-course menus, with three options available for each course to delight both residents and visitors alike seeking to explore our destination’s outstanding cuisine at a reduced price.
- Around US Memorial day, look for the world famous Puerto Vallarta Gay Pride. “Orgullo Vallarta Pride” is an annual event celebrated the last weekend launched in 2013 to celebrate the diverse LGBT community that both lives in and visits Puerto Vallarta, and that over the years has positively influenced and formed part of its culture, heritage and history.
- At the end of October, Puerto Vallarta gay businesses sponsor many halloween costume contests. It is typical to see the Around The Block Costume Contest on Pulpito and Rodolfo Gomez with The Swedes, Blondies PV and Anonimo joining to make a fun evening with cash and prizes.
- The traditional mexican holiday in Puerto Vallarta closely related to Halloween is a “Day of the Dead” festival where you typically see the famous katrinas. It is a week-long celebration with art shows, parades, and dances along with other festivities where art, religion, life, death, sadness, and humor all come together. It is topped off with “La Caravana de la Muerte” Parade at the end of the week followed by a big party and fireworks. Everywhere you look throughout the week you will find bright colours and flowers. The Malecon, the Plaza des Armas and the areas surrounding are all brightly decorated with the Dia de Los Muertos altars from different organizations, restaurants, hotels and community groups.
November
- November traditionally starts the increase of vacation and snow bird travel to PV. This is the beginning of several major daily and weekly events. Puerto Vallarta has Mexico’s #1 live theater shows and gay cabaret scene. Rightly called P-town south, there are nightly shows from November until May at Act 2, The Palm, Nacho Daddy or Incanto from the world’s top list of national and international performers and drag queen divas.
- Also from November until April, the every other week Southside Shuffle on the cobblestone streets of Basilio Badillo in the Romantic Zone feature street music, food and drinks, and artists showing their work in the local art galleries.
- Discover over 15 wonderful art galleries on the Centro Historic Artwalk every Wednesday until 10 pm. the art walk provides a pleasant atmosphere for art collectors, art patrons, local residents and interested visitors to discover the great variety and exceptional quality of art available here.
- Festival Gourmet International Puerto Vallarta. In 1995 Thierry Blouet creator and chef of Cafe Des Artiste and Chef Heinz Reize created the idea of promoting and raising the culinary level to competitive international standards, interacting with new methods and creativity from highly qualified chefs in Puerto Vallarta. The idea behind the festival is to strengthen the gastronomy in Puerto Vallarta as an exemplary showcase and promote the destination through the excellence of good food.
- The first Gourmet Festival was held in 1995 with the participation of six hotels and six independent restaurants. The original format remains unchanged: each participating restaurant invites a celebrity from the culinary art scene. In the year two thousand, our chef friend Roland Menetrey was integrated and since then the organization is led by the three musketeers.
- Thanksgiving week is a huge circuit party in Puerto Vallarta. Look for huge festivals from White Party PV, Jubileo/Sunland, Mantamar and CC Slaughter’s to get things into gear for an upcoming vacation travel season.
- The Christmas spirit in December abounds as friends and families gather throughout the holiday season, cheerfully wishing each other the best and celebrating the simple things in life. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Mexicans are known to attend a variety of posadas, christmas parties, in which they share in the magic of the season while celebrating with loved ones.
- There is also the Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the beginning of the month, where masses of “Vallartenses” parade through the center of town in an elaborate display that shows off their religious devotion and vibrant Mexican culture. These parades, which take place on the first 12 nights of December, create a magical scene for visitors who are welcomed by the crowds and invited to participate in one of Vallarta’s largest events of the year.
- Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, expect many large gay circuit parties. The larger dance clubs (Industry Dance Club and CC Slaughter’s) and Mantamar will bring a series of day and night parties with national and international dj’s spinning to huge crowds climaxing with Will Gorges presents the annual New Year’s Eve festival at Oscar’s on the river.
Gay Clothing Optional Events
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The Pool Club Casa Cupula is the first place to look for sexy clothing-optional pool parties Bring friends or make new ones at their Saturday swimsuit-optional pool club party sometimes known as Adam and Steve Pool Party with lively DJ music, a full bar and grill, a hot tub, a heated salt water pool, and incredible views of Banderas Bay.
Frequently Asked Questions: Puerto Vallarta Gay Events 2026
Where do I pick up my 2026 Beef Dip Dog Tags?
For 2026, the official Beef Dip Welcome Center is located at the Blue Chairs Resort lobby. Do not head to the bars for your tags; you must present your Eventbrite QR code at the Welcome Center during official check-in hours (typically 12 PM – 5 PM daily during the event week).
Are tickets required for the Vallarta Pride Parade?
No, the Vallarta Pride Parade (May 21, 2026) is a free public event that runs along the Malecón and into the Zona Romántica. The Official Pride Block Party on Lázaro Cárdenas after the parade may requests donations. However individually sponsored events at Mantamar, Industry, STUDS, The Pool Club PV, Bearadise Bear Pride all require individual tickets from the event organizer. There is no all access pass that allows entry to all of the individually sponsored events.
What is the Fairyland Music Festival in March?
Fairyland is Puerto Vallarta’s premier Queer House Music festival, held from March 12–15, 2026. Unlike traditional circuit events, F3 focuses on global house artists like Horse Meat Disco and The Shapeshifters. Most events take place at Mantamar Beach Club, but look for “secret” pop-up sessions at One Six One and Anónimo.
Which 2026 events are “Clothing Optional”?
The most popular clothing-optional events for 2026 are the weekly pool parties held at the Pool Club PV, the Saturday Pool Party at Pinata PV (invite only) and the bear events during the year by Bearadise. Note: Mantamar pool parties are not clothing optional.