SAN FRANCISCO — This year’s Bear Weekend will take place over President’s Day weekend in San Francisco.

For 20 years, the third weekend of February has been "Bear Weekend" in San Francisco, starting in 1992 with the first Bear Expo, followed by 17 more events, which raised funds for various causes, as well as the local economy.

A grassroots event was born to replace the last International Bear Rendezvous, which was held in 2011.

With no person or group in charge, the weekend was decentralized. Charities partnered with promoters and venues to create a growing list of bearvents, many of which will be familiar to past attendees of IBR. There is no host hotel, no shuttle bus, and no registration.

Since this is a grassroots event, supporters of fur and fun are encouraged to invite their friends through the "SF Bear Weekend 2012" event page on Facebook, where more than 390 bears, cubs, otters, chasers and chubs have already indicated they'll be attending.

An up-to-date schedule can be found here.

Sponsors and charities who would like to become involved can click here.