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.
Want every date in one place? Browse the GAYPV Event Travel Planner by date and category, or start with the Puerto Vallarta Gay Guide for the whole destination. For a more cultural night out, see our Puerto Vallarta Art Walk guide.
The Official Puerto Vallarta Gay Events & Festivals Guide
Events at a Glance
These are the events Puerto Vallarta’s gay community plans the year around. Exact dates change every year, so use the guide links and the Event Travel Planner for current dates.
| Events at a Glance | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Typical timing | Insider tip | Guide |
| Beef Dip Bear Week | Late January into early February | The “Will Call” center is at Blue Chairs, the host hotel. Don’t go to the bars first! | Bear Week guide |
| Fairyland Festival | March, 4 days | A 4-day Queer House Music takeover at Mantamar. | – |
| Semana Santa | March or April; moves with Easter | See the Semana Santa section below. | – |
| Vallarta Pride | The week before US Memorial Day | The Block Party on Lázaro Cárdenas begins right after the parade. | Pride guide |
| Restaurant Week | Mid-May into early June | The most popular food festival. | Festivals section |
| El Grito | September 16 | Mexican Independence Day celebrations. | – |
| Halloween & Día de los Muertos | Late October into early November | The unofficial start of high season. | Halloween section |
| Thanksgiving | Thanksgiving week, late November | Pool parties and dinners around the holiday. | Thanksgiving guide |
| Guadalupe & Christmas | December | The Guadalupe procession runs December 1 to 12. | Holiday section |
| New Year’s | End of December into the first days of January | One of the three biggest event weeks of the year. | New Year’s section |
| White Party PV | Occasionally, during a peak week | A 4-day event at Industry Night Club with one designated White Party day. | White Party section |
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 Carnival
Historically, Mardi Gras Carnival in Puerto Vallarta was celebrated for one day, on Fat Tuesday. The very popular parade began in the hotel zone and followed the world-famous Malecón, ending on Olas Altas. Past parades drew more than 30,000 cheering residents and tourists to the city streets to see floats and parade participants celebrating the diversity of our city.
The organizers cancelled the Carnival in 2019. New organizers brought it back for February 22–24, 2024 with great success, and the same organizers held it again February 20–22, 2025. There was no Mardi Gras Carnival in Puerto Vallarta in 2026, and it is not currently scheduled. If it returns, we will list it in the Event Travel Planner.
Fairyland Festival: The Global Queer House Takeover
Fairyland is held every March, with Mantamar Beach Club as its home. 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 Lineup: Fairyland books a roster of world-class DJs, with past headliners 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 sell 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
Vallarta Pride, held the week before US Memorial Day, 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.
For the parties, the parade and everything around them, see our complete Vallarta Pride guide.
More Pride background: Vallarta Pride 10th Anniversary and how Puerto Vallarta Pride aligned with NYC Pride.
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
Latin Fever was Puerto Vallarta’s first circuit party, first held in November 1999, and it put the city on the map for gay clubbing and nightlife. The story of how it became White Party PV is in our nightlife history.
What are the major gay circuit and theme parties in Puerto Vallarta?
White Party Puerto Vallarta
White Party PV is organized and held by Industry Night Club as a four-day event, with one of the days as the designated White Party. It runs occasionally during one of the peak weeks, such as Pride, Thanksgiving, New Year’s or Semana Santa, so check the Event Travel Planner for current dates. The first White Party PV was held in 2015 at Mantamar with Jeffrey Sanker, who later took it over entirely. Read the full history, from Latin Fever to today, in our nightlife history.
White Party background: White Party returns to Puerto Vallarta, Jeffrey Sanker on bringing the White Party to Puerto Vallarta and GAYPV on the loss of Jeffrey Sanker.
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.
Bear and leather season is more than one weekend, so see our Puerto Vallarta Bear Week guide for the rest of it. For the late-night parties that follow the main events, see our Puerto Vallarta after parties guide. For daytime parties, browse our gay pool parties and gay boat tours and beach parties.
New Year’s Eve in Puerto Vallarta
New Year’s is one of Puerto Vallarta’s three biggest event weeks, along with Bear Week and Vallarta Pride. The celebrations stretch across several days at the top venues and finish with a night of fireworks and street parties.
| New Year’s Week Parties | |
|---|---|
| Party | What to expect |
| Mantamar New Year’s Festival | Mantamar New Year’s Festival: pool parties at Mantamar Beach Club, usually 5 to 6 days of world-class circuit party production. |
| Industry New Year’s Celebration | Industry New Year’s Celebration Festival: the same format at Industry Nightclub, 5 to 6 days of circuit party production. |
| STUDS New Year’s Week | STUDS New Year’s Week at STUDS Bear & Leather Bar, 5 to 6 days and sometimes 7. |
| Pool Club PV, New Year’s Eve | New Year’s Eve Dinner & Fireworks Party at Pool Club PV: the Pool Club at Casa Cupula on the night itself, with a dinner show, fireworks and after parties. |
| Fireworks and Street Party | |
|---|---|
| Where | What to expect |
| Malécon fireworks | Either side of the Malécon works, because you look up. A recent display included a drone show over the bay. Lázaro Cárdenas is often closed to traffic on New Year’s Eve. |
| Olas Altas street party | It takes place every year on Olas Altas street, in front of Daiquiri Dick’s and Andale’s, and the closure stops at Rodolfo Gómez. It is not always announced in advance. It just happens. |
| Plan Ahead for New Year’s | |
|---|---|
| What | Advice |
| Accommodation | Book up to a year ahead for the hotel you want. See gay hotels in Puerto Vallarta. |
| Tickets | Buy about 3 months ahead. |
| Crowds | Expect heavy crowds downtown and along the Malécon. See our ride-share safety guide for getting around. |
Puerto Vallarta Festivals: Food, Music & Culture
Not every festival in Puerto Vallarta is a gay event, but several draw a large LGBTQ+ crowd. These are the ones worth planning around.
| Festivals Worth Planning Around | |
|---|---|
| Festival | What to know |
| Restaurant Week | The most popular food festival, running from mid-May into early June. Restaurant Week PV. |
| Gourmet International Festival | The second big food festival. Festival Gourmet International on Facebook. |
| Fairyland | The most popular music festival, held in March. |
| Art Walk | Every Wednesday from November to May, in Centro (not the Zona Romántica). See our Puerto Vallarta Art Walk guide. |
Other music festivals, such as jazz or tango, are worth a look only when they draw an LGBTQ+ audience, and we list them when they do.
Christmas, Guadalupe & Holiday Events
| December in Puerto Vallarta | |
|---|---|
| Event | What to know |
| Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe | The procession starts on December 1 and grows to its peak on December 12. Crafts and food stalls fill Centro in front of the church. Public buses stop running into downtown at night. It is a very cultural event, and many businesses hold posadas for their employees. |
| Christmas | Most people spend Christmas eating dinner, shopping and going to the beach. The parties start closer to New Year’s. The Pool Club at Casa Cupula holds traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with a show; see the Pool Club events. |
Halloween & Día de los Muertos in Puerto Vallarta
| Halloween and Día de los Muertos | |
|---|---|
| What | What to expect |
| High season | Halloween and Day of the Dead are the unofficial start of high season, the transition out of low season. |
| Culture | Very cultural, with a Day of the Dead cultural parade in the Zona Romántica. See the Festival de las Almas event. |
| Bars | Many bars hold costume parties. |
| Cabaret | The cabaret venues are open. See our cabaret and theatre guide. |
Gay Events This Week, This Weekend & Today
For exactly what is on today, this weekend or this week, search the GAYPV Event Travel Planner. These are the recurring events you can count on.
| Recurring Gay Events in Puerto Vallarta | |
|---|---|
| Event | What to expect |
| Pool parties | Afternoon pool parties, including clothing-optional ones. See our gay pool parties guide. |
| Happy hours | Afternoon bar happy hours. See our gay bars guide. |
| Drag brunch | Drag brunches at The Pool Club at Casa Cupula, The Tryst and The Top Sky Bar. Browse the drag brunch event archive. |
| Nightly shows | Go-go dancers and drag shows every night. Browse the go-go boys and drag shows event archives, or see gay nightlife in Puerto Vallarta. |
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
Where do I pick up my Beef Dip Dog Tags?
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 (held during Pride, the week before US Memorial Day) 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. See our Vallarta Pride guide for current ticket information.
What is the Fairyland Music Festival in March?
Fairyland is Puerto Vallarta’s premier Queer House Music festival, held every March. 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 events are “Clothing Optional”?
The most popular clothing-optional events 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.
What gay events are happening this weekend in Puerto Vallarta?
Recurring events include afternoon pool parties (some clothing optional), afternoon bar happy hours, drag brunches, and nightly go-go dancers and drag shows. For the exact lineup this week or weekend, use the GAYPV Event Travel Planner.
What are the biggest gay event weeks in Puerto Vallarta?
Bear Week, Vallarta Pride and New Year’s are the top three. See our Bear Week and Pride guides.
When should I book New Year’s in Puerto Vallarta?
Book accommodation up to a year ahead for the hotel you want, and buy party tickets about 3 months ahead.
How long do the gay New Year’s parties last?
The festivals at Mantamar, Industry and STUDS usually run 5 to 6 days, and STUDS can run 7. The Pool Club’s New Year’s Eve party is a single night.
Where can I watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks?
Either side of the Malécon works, because you look up.
Is Lázaro Cárdenas closed on New Year’s Eve?
Often, yes, so plan to walk.
Is there a New Year’s street party?
Yes. The Olas Altas street party takes place every year on Olas Altas street, in front of Daiquiri Dick’s and Andale’s, and the closure stops at Rodolfo Gómez. It is not always announced ahead of time.