How it started.
Where it went.
No Sex Gay Weekend started with a note Chris wrote to himself on a gay holiday. Then came a picnic in Madrid, and 24 guys in Oxford. Since then it has run weekends and events in Oxford, Valencia, Bath, Seville, Bristol, Devon, Brighton, London and Madrid, and 2,100 people are on the mailing list.
“Why am I spending my money to come to a gay place to feel bad about myself?”
Chris, founder
The idea
A note to himself.
Chris was on a gay holiday, walking around a cruising club, and feeling bad about himself. Why am I spending my money to come to a gay place to feel bad about myself? He wrote down what he liked and what he didn't, and after a while he wrote down “no sex gay weekend”. He didn't know if it would work. So he thought he'd just start it and see.
The first poll
Then we asked.
Chris put the idea on Instagram as a poll, then sent a survey to everyone who joined the waitlist.
- 1,200
- answered the first poll
- 92%
- liked the idea
- 380
- answered the waitlist survey
- 1 in 5
- thought the no sex part would be hard
Madrid, June 2025
A picnic in the Retiro.
The first event wasn't a weekend. It was a picnic in the Retiro in Madrid, on 27 June 2025, just before Pride. A dessert crawl followed in August, and then a run of Madrid socials: walks in Casa de Campo, a date night, Halloween drinks, coworking afternoons with picoteo, Christmas drinks, speed dating, and another Retiro picnic in April 2026 with 25 guys. Out of it came a WhatsApp group, and nights out that organised themselves. “We organised this yesterday, and spontaneously we're all here at the Mercado San Antón,” Chris said at one of them. “Well, we're in Spain, so everyone's a little bit late.”
Oxford, August 2025
The first weekend.
The pilot weekend: 24 guys in Oxford. Coffee, a tour of the city, a picnic, a game of Traitors (the murderers won), punting on the Cherwell, and a jazz bar. A smaller group stayed on for a countryside walk and a pub roast on the Sunday. “Loads of friendships were made,” Chris said afterwards. “I don't know if people fancied each other, maybe they did. Maybe there'll be some weddings coming up.” He opened Valencia and Bath straight away.
Autumn 2025
Valencia, Bath, Seville.
Valencia in September was the first full weekend: paella by the sea, a sunset boat trip, the science museum. Bath in October brought 15 guys, Boom Battle Bar, the Roman Baths and a Sunday roast. In November, Seville tried a new format: a day trip, no hotel needed. By the autumn, Chris said, 200 guys had come to the events and weekends.
“Wouldn't it be nice to become mates first?”
Chris, in Pink Ticket Travel, September 2025
London, from September 2025
Events between the weekends.
Weekends are a lot of work to organise, and they cost money to come on, so events started alongside them. As Chris wrote to the list: “I understand a weekend away can be pricey, but I want to make this project open to as many people as possible.” The first free London event, at Retro Bar, had 40 guys signed up. Then Christmas drinks, a South London meet-up, speed dating in March 2026 with another 40 guys, and a picnic in June. “You can look for mates, or you can look for dates.”
Spring 2026
Bristol, then the manor.
Bristol in March: 16 guys, Banksy, bowling at The Lanes, and a proper roast. Over Easter came the first residential, four days at Cadhay, a Tudor manor in Devon, with the whole house to ourselves. “Think of it more as mates in the manor vs a stay at Gleneagles.” By then, more than 600 guys had joined an event or a weekend.
Summer 2026
Back to Oxford, and a first birthday.
In June, a full weekend back in Oxford, the first place we did one. In July, Brighton: the pier, the Royal Pavilion and fish and chips. In August, a first birthday picnic in London. On 29 September 2026, Launch Night in London marked the end of year one, with a rebuilt site and a year of weekends and events shown first to the people who had been coming since the start. Out of that first year came best men, dates, business partners, one guy flying to New York to visit someone he met on a weekend, and loads of friends.
Year one
It started with 24 of us in Oxford.
- 8
- weekends
- 22
- socials, picnics and nights out
- 9
- places in two countries
Covered by Queerty, Instinct Magazine, QX Magasin and Pink Ticket Travel, and a guest on five podcasts. Read the coverage
Now
More cities. More formats.
The project returns to cities it has been to before and keeps adding new ones. More countries and more formats are in the works. The core of it remains exactly what it was in that first Oxford weekend: gay men, real places, no agenda.
The next weekend is in York, December 2026.
On TikTok
Chris, to camera, from the weekends and events.
“We are here for the very first No Sex Gay Weekend, in the beautiful city of Oxford, as a group of 24 guys.”
Oxford, August 2025
“Loads of friendships were made. I don't know if people fancied each other, maybe they did.”
Oxford, the week after
“We're in the beautiful city of Bath for No Sex Gay Weekend. We had our Friday night, it was so good.”
Bath, October 2025
“You can look for mates, or you can look for dates.”
Speed dating, London, March 2026
“Fun activities in amazing locations, doing things that you don't normally do.”
Devon, Easter 2026
“Gay guys who want to make being gay nice, friendly, fun, go away feeling good about yourself, make friends.”
On TikTok
Be part of what comes next.
New locations, early access, and the occasional update from Chris.
Or come along to the next one.
Upcoming weekends in York.