Inspired by fans wearing cheese grater hats at the Lions-Packers Week 9 game at Lambeau Field, this Michigan family created their own hats for the Lions-Bears Week 16 matchup at Soldier Field.

Fat Bear Week’s bears are brown bears. When is Fat Bear Week 2023? The main event runs Oct. 4 through Oct. 10, but friendly competition begins next week with Fat Bear Junior.

Meet the contestants of Fat Bear Week 2023. Voting in the contest for denizens of Katmai National Park & Preserve is now open.

Meet the contestants of Fat Bear Week 2023. Voting in the contest for denizens of Katmai National Park & Preserve is now open.

The 2019 Fat Bear Week champ has captured hearts for years for being a “supermom,” going so far as to adopt an abandoned cub in 2014 (a very rare occurrence in the bear world).

Fat Bear Week was launched by the National Park Service in 2014 with just a single celebratory day – Fat Bear Tuesday. But the event was so successful that it became a dedicated week in 2015.

Fat Bear Week is an annual event organized by Katmai National Park and explore.org, showing how bears have fattened up after months of devouring salmon. The 2022 competitors are quite fat.