Eventually bars opened and small gay owned hotels and businesses formed and it has been building ever since.” Puerto Vallarta was so small and unknown that they were not followed by the Hollywood press. A few of the Americans bought houses and started living here in centro area, also called gringo gulch. Of course his elite gay Hollywood friends followed him to the unknown fishing village and once here they discovered a beach where they could be themselves.
Wilson explains, “Puerto Vallarta’s rise to fame began in the 1960’s with the 1964 filming of Night of the Iquana by Tenessee Williams, a gay Hollywood film writer. So when did Puerto Vallarta first attract gay travelers? Tim Wilson, founder of Gay PV, is the absolute authority on LGBT life in Puerto Vallarta, hosting popular gay bar hopping tours. Gay Puerto Vallarta is Mexico’s most popular beach resort for LGBT travellers.
The city also offers free Mexican folk dance shows and a lively parade. Puerto Vallarta celebrates by erecting massive skeleton sculptures along the lively Malacon.
The festival attracts beefy, scruffy men, and their admirers.