Fat Bear Week 2026: Katmai Conservancy opens voting round for brown bears

Katmai Conservancy says the voting period runs from September 22 through September 29, 2026, with matchups played in a single-elimination bracket.

The National Park Service describes the event as an annual chance to pick which of Katmai’s brown bears has eaten best ahead of winter hibernation.

What happened

Fat Bear Week 2026 has kicked off again as a public event centered on the brown bears of Katmai National Park. The contest asks which bear has gained the most impressive amount of weight before winter begins. In the official descriptions, the event is framed as an annual tradition where fans around the world can vote for the bear that has done the best job building up fat reserves.

According to Katmai Conservancy, voting runs from September 22 through September 29, 2026. The organization is using a bracket with head-to-head matchups, with the public voting each round on which bear advances. The available information describes the format as a single-elimination tournament, but no specific bears, seedings, or results are mentioned.

The National Park Service said on September 11, 2026, that Fat Bear Week is returning to Katmai. In that announcement, it said the event once again lets fans worldwide choose which bear has done the best job building up fat reserves for winter. The NPS specifically cites the September 22 to 29, 2026 window and ties the event to Katmai National Park in Alaska.

Katmai Conservancy also published its own announcement opening the Fat Bear Week 2026 matchups for voting. In the available summary, voting is open from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, which works out to 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time. That lines up with Alaska’s time zone and the broader U.S. public campaign around the event.

Background

Fat Bear Week is an annual public event centered on the brown bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska. The idea is simple: in the run-up to winter, bears eat lots of fish and other food so they can build enough fat reserves for hibernation. The official explanations from the National Park Service and Katmai Conservancy focus on that preparation for winter dormancy, with the public voting not on speed, strength, or looks, but on the bear that has gained the most convincingly.

Katmai Conservancy is named in the available sources as the organizer of the 2026 edition. The format remains a single-elimination tournament, meaning bears are paired off each round and the winner advances. The supplied material does not name specific animals, bracket layouts, or final results, and no winner has been announced in the provided sources.

The official communication around Fat Bear Week 2026 emphasizes that the event is returning to Katmai National Park and that the public can take part worldwide. The NPS announcement is dated September 11, 2026, while Katmai Conservancy opens voting on September 22, 2026. That places the 2026 edition clearly as a defined campaign in the second half of September.

In the available context, Fat Bear Week is also described as an annual tradition about “packing on the pounds” for winter. That wording matches the broader explanation of the event: brown bears in Katmai need to eat a lot in a short time to get through the winter dormancy period. The sources do not add details about individual bears, but they do confirm that the event is about winter preparation and public engagement with wildlife observation and conservation.

Sources

• Kotaku: "Happy Fat Bear Week, Everyone" — https://kotaku.com/happy-fat-bear-week-everyone-2000736138
• U.S. National Park Service: "Fat Bear Week 2026" — https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/news/fat-bear-week-2026.htm
• Katmai Conservancy: "Fat Bear Week 2026 Begins" — https://katmaiconservancy.org/events/fat-bear-week-begins