History

Bears, Bikers & Mayhem was started by Chuck King & Bill Hugo in 2011 in York, PA as the first annual run of The Susquehanna Valley Bears. From it’s inception, the SV Bears envisioned BBM as the first national event that would bring together men from the Bear, Leather & Fetish Communities.

For the first two years, 2011 & 2012, BBM was held at The Red Roof Inn in York, PA with the Friday Leather Party at Club XS and the Saturday Bear Party at Atland’s Ranch in Thomasville, PA.

By the third year BBM had outgrown the Red Roof Inn and found a home 30 miles to the West in Historic Gettysburg, PA. The Eisenhower Inn offered a full service hotel and conference center, room to grow and lots of space for added events and parties.

In the third and forth years the Friday Leather Party was held at the Eisenhower Inn and a pool party was added to the weekend as well as many other great events. The Vendor Market expanded to include vendors from across the country. BBM was also able to take advantage of being in Historic Gettysburg, PA by adding new features and options such as ghost tours, historic tours and other off site events. In 2013 & 2014 BBM continued to hold the Bear Party at Altand’s Ranch which was a favorite venue among locals and visitors alike.

Starting in 2014,with the help of The Pennsmen & Shooting Star Productions, the Mr. Mayhem Leather contest was added to the line up for the weekend. Unlike most bear or leather contests, the three segments of Mr. Mayhem Leather were spread out across the weekend. The Mr. Mayhem Leather Contest is thought to be the ONLY contest in the world where the jock-strap portion of the contest happens during a pool party with the contestants coming out of the pool in wet jocks. Chad Baylor was selected as the First Mr. Mayhem Leather representing Bears, Bikers & Mayhem and it mission of bringing the Bear, Leather & Fetish Communities together.

In 2018 a Mr. Leather Bear Contest was added with the winner going on to compete for International Leather bear.

Just like many new runs, the first few years of BBM offered entertainment by Drag Queens and silly game shows that involved the guests. Starting in 2014 BBM began adding a higher level of entertainment with Michael Brandon, Peter C. Bisuito & Kendall Kelly. BBM’s goal to provide great entertainment continues with Dolf Deitrich, Adam Sank & Tom Goss, Judy Gold, Harrison Greenbaum, Brad Loekle, Aleks Buldocek and Hans the Entertainer having taken the stage. BBM strives to bring some of the best DJ’s possible to the event with multiple DJ’s playing at various parties.

In 2013 the Susquehanna Valley Bears became a project of Black & White Party, Inc. a federally recognized 501(c)3 non-profit. Since BBM was a project of the Susquehanna Valley Bears this move gained BBM a corporate identity and non-profit status. In 2014 when The Capital City Bears, The Pennsmen & Shooting Star Productions also became projects of Black & White Party, Inc. the Susquehanna Valley Bears merged with the Capital City Bears. At that time Bears, Bikers & Mayhem become it’s own entity under the umbrella of Black & White Party.

Bears, Bikers & Mayhem has enjoyed great growth since it’s inception and strives to keep that momentum going by constantly adding value to the weekend, changing the line up and keeping the event fresh & fun. 

In 2024, BBM went under a new 501c3 called Rainbow Sidekick, Inc as we are on our way to becoming our own 501c3 at some point in the future. The mission of Rainbow Sidekick is virtually the same as Black & White Party, Inc. We are growing, so had to grow in new directions.