Fat Bear Week 2026 begins: What to know, how to vote

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What is Fat Bear Week?

What is Fat Bear Week?

(NEXSTAR) – Get ready to cast your ballot. Not in the upcoming midterm elections (at least not quite yet), but in the annual eating competition among bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska.

Each year, the National Park Service (NPS) organizes what’s lovingly called Fat Bear Week. It’s an elimination-style tournament where the public votes on which bears are doing the best job packing on the pounds ahead of hibernation season.

This year, the tournament opens for voting on Tuesday.

The tradition started sort of as an accident in 2014, according to the NPS. Mike Fitz, a park ranger, was........

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