BODY-POSITIVE bonanza ‘Fat Con’ returned for the second time last month, seeing hundreds of plus-size Americans come together to celebrate their bodies.
Travelling to Seattle to take part in the festivities, attendees joined what organisers called “the biggest fat convention on the West Coast,” the Daily Mail reports.
The super soirée had the aim of “improving the lives of fat humans through art, health, public policy and community outreach.”
Hundreds of guests turned up to get involved in a super-sized itinerary of exciting activities.
Ticket pricing began at £147, but stretched to a whopping £958 for VIP.
Splashing around at a colourful pool party while donning plus-size bikinis and trunks, happy guests pictures and videos online of the joyous gathering online.
In one clip, attendees can be seen trying out a synchronised swimming class – dancing together in the water in perfect unison.
And the event is also a hot spot for plus-size fashion, with generously-sized items of clothing on offer from sellers all over the nation.
Clothing brand Club Chub Clothing offered shirts emblazoned with loud and proud messages like “‘death to diet culture,’ ‘fat babes are hot,’ and ‘PCOS girly.’”
For the bolder body-positive “babes”, there was even an option to get to grips with some bondage lessons.
There, participants watched a Japanese bondage demonstration that saw experts suspended from dangling ropes.
Fat Con founder and non-binary burlesque performer, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty, told The Seattle Emerald: “This idea that a good body is a thin body is not true. You can be extremely healthy in a fat body and you can be radically unhealthy in a thin body and everything in between.”
Pucks A’Plenty also insisted that the body positivity movement needs to be re-centered around fat people, as in their opinion, it had become a “catch-all” for anyone.
They said that the idea of body positivity has become too attached to “white women doing yoga” and got “further and further away” from targeting the discrimination plus-size people receive.
And the diverse audience they’d gathered at Fat Con showed exactly how broad the spectrum of body positivity really is.
But despite the positive energy radiating from content shared online, it hasn’t all been smiles for Fat Con.
What is fatphobia?
Fatphobia, or fat shaming, is a term for the social stigma of obesity.
According to the University of York, fatphobia is “A fear or dislike of fat or people who are perceived to be overweight, often leading to harassment and discrimination of individuals and groups.”
Marketing Director of the event, Becky Wilson, told Komo News that last year the celebrations had caused backlash online, amid a culture that insists plus-size people should feel “shame” for existing in their bodies.
Well-known internet personalities like YouTuber Blaire White and The Daily Wire Matt Walsh were among the online trolls who mocked Fat Con, which Wilson said left them blocking and reporting each hateful comment.
And because of this, organisers were forced to up security measures this year to defend party-goers from negative trolls.
After a major success, Fat Con is set to return bigger and better than ever next year.
On January 16, 2026, the event will once again welcome back the plus-size community to Seattle.
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