Scotland’s annual celebration of everything ‘bears’ has ended for 2019 in Edinburgh, with thousands raised for charity and the title Mr. BearScots going to a Londoner!
30-year-old Andrew Bailie took the title as a packed venue at The Caves cheered him on after what’s been described by organisers as the biggest festival in their 20 year history.
Andrew, who is deaf, said he wanted the deaf and hearing bears to be able to communicate better around each other and even offered some BSL lessons to those at the festival.
BearScotFest 2019 kicked off with a welcome reception at CC Blooms bar in the capital on Friday, including a bear marketplace and a tartan party later in the evening, with the full weekend selling out weeks before it even started.
The weekend continued on Saturday with several activities across the city, including a pool party, walking tours, bear brunch and a kilt party in the evening, with bears, cubs and their admirers from all over the world coming to experience the Scottish bear hospitality!
The climax of the weekend is the Mr. BearScots competition and 7 bears braved the stage this year, cheered on by an admiring audience and cheeky hosts Bella & The Bear! With a special raffle taking place during the weekend, a cheque for over £2,000 was presented to LGBT Youth Scotland, showing bears can be gentle and generous, who knew!
Imagery for this years BearScotFest was inspired by cartoon strips Oor Wullie and The Broons, with special bear sketches created by Bruce Husbands from Edinburgh and they turned out to be a massive hit across the weekend.
Mr. BearScots 2019 says he is thankful to all those who supported him and hopes to give something back by supporting deaf people and hearing people communicate more effectively.
BearScotsFest is back for 2020 with dates already announced for October next year, don’t miss out!
Full article by PinkSaltire
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