Thu 27 Mar 2008 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
It's that time of the year again when the bears come out of the woods in a bid to be crowned Mr Urge New Zealand Bear 2008. Last year's Mr Urge Bear winner Anton Cronje The annual event, which also acts as a fundraiser for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, takes place on Saturday 29 March at Auckland's Urge bar on K' Road. Co-owner Alan Granville said this year's contestants "have come from far and wide" to strut their stuff at the bear bar pageant. "We have entrants from Wellington, Taranaki and Nelson, which is great as it proves it's a real New Zealand event," he says. "It's a real good bunch of contestants this year, a whole mixed bag of 'bear-dom' from muscle bears to cubs to your more traditional looking bear." Contestants have to undergo two rounds of judging, as well as collect raffle money for the NZAF. The winner receives return flights to compete in Southern HiBearnation 2008, an annual trans-Tasman bear pageant to be held in Melbourne this June. This is the third year of Urge's bear-crowning event, which has raised over $1,300 for charity so far. "We would love our patrons to dig deep on the night to raise money for a great cause and support their favourite bear, or bears, on the night," says Granville. Urge bar's doors open on Saturday evening at 9pm with the contest scheduled to start just after 11pm. Entry is free.