Bears Perth are holding their inaugural Mr West Oz Bear competition this weekend with a return trip to Melbourne at stake.
So far seven contestants have been confirmed in the running for the competition since registrations opened last night.
Mr West Oz Bear 2011 marks the first official bears competition for WA, according Bears Perth president Paul Hayter.
Hayter said there had been a previous ‘mock’ competition about 17 years ago but he believed it wasn’t at the level of this event.
‘It’s our inaugural competition and it’s based on a number of competitions around Australia,’ Hayter said.
‘The winner gets a return trip to Melbourne to compete in the national competition at Southern Hibernation for Mr Australasian Bear.’
‘And who knows, from that the West Australian could go to Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco.
The competition is broken up into four parts including Day/work wear contest and an interview process to find out more about the contestants.
Held at Connections Nightclub, the winner also takes away an Eagle Leather gift voucher worth $300.
The Bears Perth president said he had been nervous about competitor numbers but was now happy with the result.
‘It’s been pretty full on, doing all the preparations for it. I’m very excited about it. I’m just hoping this is the beginning of an on-going thing that can build and build each year,’ he said.
Contestants will also be raising funds to support this year’s beneficiary, the Freedom Centre.
Mr West Oz Bear 2011 competition kicks off Saturday from 7pm at Connections Nightclub.
Benn Dorrington
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