What happens during Fat Bear Week? How to participate and all you need to know

Fat Bear Week is an annual single-elimination tournament that celebrates brown bears at Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve as they put on fat for winter hibernation. The public compares before-and-after photos, watches live cameras, and votes for the bear believed to be most prepared for the den.

Sixteen bears are in the 2026 field. Voting opened on September 22, and the champion is scheduled to be named on September 29 at FatBearWeek.org, with no ballots on September 26 or 27.

Voters enter an email on a Google form, choose one bear in each open matchup, and may vote only once per email per matchup between 12 pm and 9 pm ET, 9 am and 6 pm PT, and 8 am and 5 pm AKDT. After a vote is submitted, running totals are visible. The event is a partnership of Katmai National Park and Preserve, explore.org, and the Katmai Conservancy.

As reported by CBS News, organizers announced the 2026 bracket on September 18 after narrowing the field to more than 100 bears seen at Brooks River this year. According to NPR, Park Superintendent Mark Sturm said in a statement:

"There are more cubs at Brooks Camp this year than have been seen in a long time."

He also said:

"A new generation of fat bears is taking shape, and they’re off to a strong start."

As reported by USA TODAY, park and preserve naturalist Mike Fitz said while announcing the bracket on a livestream that the brown bears had reached "peak fat" and were ready for the long winter.

According to explore.org:

"During hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and lose one-third of their body weight. Their winter survival depends on accumulating ample fat reserves before entering the den."

Fat Bear Week 2026 tournament

Fat Bear Week began in 2014 as Fat Bear Tuesday, a one-day Facebook vote. The first full week of voting ran in October 2015.

As reported by CBS News, the 2026 season had sixteen competitors, up from twelve in recent years. There is no separate Fat Bear Week Junior contest this year. Cubs appear with their mothers as family units. As reported by the New York Times, researchers recorded nineteen bear families and thirty-seven cubs at Brooks River in summer 2026.

The adult males are 32 Chunk, the 2025 champion competing after a broken jaw last year; 89 Backpack, son of 2019 winner 435 Holly; 151 Walker; 164 Bucky; and 903 Gully. Adult females include 131 Marshmallow, 428 Studious, 909, and 910. Subadults 620 and 694 are also listed.

The family groups are 132 with three spring cubs, 284 with two spring cubs, 610 with two spring cubs, 806 with a biological spring cub and an adopted 2.5-year-old cub, and 901 with a spring cub. According to EarthSky, two offspring of 128 Grazer, 428 Studious, and 903 Gully are in the field even though Grazer herself was not selected.

According to explore.org, the bears still in contention heading into the September 28 Final Fat Four include 132 Family, 89 Backpack, 910, and 164 Bucky. Fat Bear Tuesday on September 29 is the championship.

A live Q&A with Mike Fitz and Katmai rangers Sarah Bruce and Christine Loberg is scheduled for September 28 at 5 pm ET. A Fat Bear Finale live chat with Fitz and rangers Sarah Bruce, Troy Hunt, and Christine Loberg is set for September 29 at 4 pm ET.

According to National Geographic Kids, Amber Kraft, interpretation and education program manager at Katmai National Park, said:

"For these bears, fatness means success. Fat Bear Week celebrates that success and the health of their ecosystem."

Mike Fitz said:

"Fat Bear Week isn’t just about body size. It’s about the different ways bears get fat."

Katmai's official instruction is to pick the bear believed to be most prepared to survive the long Alaska winter. Live cameras on explore.org cover Brooks Falls and the river.

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Fat Bear Week 2026 remains open through September 29 at FatBearWeek.org.

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