Ptown Single Women's Weekend 2026: Lesbian Speed Dating & Mixers Guide

Single Women's Weekend is exactly what it sounds like, and also more than you think. On the surface, it's a three-day, structured, deliberately designed weekend in Provincetown for single lesbians to meet other single lesbians — speed dating, mixers, a variety show, a scavenger hunt, and parties. Underneath, it's one of the warmest, funniest, most unapologetically women-centered weekends anywhere in the country. If you've ever said "there's nowhere for queer women to actually meet each other in person," this is the weekend someone built specifically to answer you.

Single Women's Weekend 2026 runs Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17 in the center of Provincetown, anchored at the Crown & Anchor and The Underground. This guide covers the full 2026 schedule, how speed dating actually works, what the Everything Package includes, where to stay on a weekend that's even earlier than Memorial Day, and how to show up ready to have a good time. Full event details and registration are at provincetownforwomen.com.

Single Women's Weekend 2026 Overview

• Dates: Friday, May 15 – Sunday, May 17, 2026
• Host city: Provincetown, Massachusetts
• Main venues: The Crown & Anchor (238 Commercial Street), The Underground, Box Lunch
• Who it's for: Single lesbian, queer, and bi women looking to meet other single women in person
• Vibe: Structured but playful — speed dating, mixers, games, live performance, and late-night dance parties
• Cost: A La Carte Registration from $45 early bird ($59 after May 15); Everything (But the Girl) Package $199
• Produced by: Provincetown For Women
• Official site: provincetownforwomen.com/single-womens-weekend
• Tickets: provincetownforwomen.com/single-womens-weekend/tickets

Why This Weekend Exists

Single Women's Weekend was built around a very specific frustration: queer women spend a lot of time talking about how hard it is to meet each other offline, and then very little time in actual rooms built to solve that. Ptown has hosted women-centered weeks for decades — Single Women's Weekend takes the existing architecture of Provincetown and drops a purpose-built singles weekend on top of it. Every event is designed to make conversation easy and low-stakes. The speed dating is structured. The mixers have icebreakers. The scavenger hunt puts you on a team with strangers within the first hour of Saturday. By Sunday brunch, you've talked to more single queer women than you would in three months at home.

The Full 2026 Schedule

Here's the complete weekend schedule for Single Women's Weekend 2026. Times and venues are pulled from the official calendar at provincetownforwomen.com — confirm any specific event before arrival as the final lineup can shift in the weeks leading up to the weekend.

Thursday, May 14 (Early Arrival)

• 7 PM – Early Birds Dinner (optional, for those arriving a day early)

Some singles arrive Thursday to get a head start and settle in. The early birds dinner is a low-pressure way to meet a few people before the official kickoff on Friday.

Friday, May 15

• 3–6 PM – Registration at The Crown & Anchor (238 Commercial Street)
• 5–6 PM – Welcome Meet Up at The Crown & Anchor
• 6 PM – Dinner Date
• 7:30 PM – Speed Dating at Box Lunch (334 Commercial Street)
• 9 PM – FLIRT Hangout & Dance Party at The Underground

Friday is the building-block day. Pick up your registration badge, meet a roomful of other newly arrived singles at the Welcome Meet Up, eat dinner at a table you'll probably share with strangers who don't stay strangers, do the structured speed dating round at Box Lunch, then cap the night dancing at The Underground with people whose names you've now actually learned.

Saturday, May 16

• 11 AM – Singles Scavenger Hunt at Town Hall (a.k.a. "Provincetown's Amazing Race")
• 12 PM – Lunch Meet-Up
• 2 PM – Star Crossed: The Astrology Game Show at The Crown & Anchor
• 3 PM – Singles Mingle Club House at The Underground
• 7:30 PM – The Sappho Singles Variety Show at The Crown & Anchor
• 9 PM – Stop Light Party at The Crown & Anchor

Saturday is the marquee day. The scavenger hunt gets you on a team and running around Commercial Street before noon. The astrology game show is the kind of "compatibility as comedy" event that tends to generate more phone numbers than any speed dating round. Saturday night is the Variety Show followed by the Stop Light Party — wear green if you're single and looking, yellow if it's complicated, red if you're already spoken for.

Sunday, May 17

• 11 AM – Singles Farewell Brunch at Bay Cafe

A soft landing to close the weekend. Sunday brunch is where the connections from Friday and Saturday either turn into actual plans or into follow-up texts after you head home.

How the Speed Dating Works

Friday night's speed dating at Box Lunch (334 Commercial Street) is the core event that gives the weekend its name. Here's roughly what to expect, based on how the organizers have run it in past years.

The Format

• Start time: 7:30 PM
• Location: Box Lunch, 334 Commercial Street (a well-loved Provincetown sandwich shop converted into a temporary event space for the weekend)
• Duration: Typically 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on headcount
• Round length: Short — usually 3-5 minutes per "date" so you can meet a lot of people in one sitting
• Matching: You keep a card with notes and mark who you'd like to hear from after. Organizers follow up with mutual matches post-event.
• Included with registration: Speed dating access is free for all registered attendees as part of the A La Carte and Everything packages

What to Expect

Speed dating is structured for a reason — five minutes is long enough to get a read on someone and short enough that no conversation is a disaster. You'll rotate through a roomful of other registered singles, have the same short conversation many times, and at the end you'll have a list of people you want to see again. Organizers pair mutual interest and make sure everyone gets follow-up contact info for their matches.

What If I'm Shy / Nervous / Worried?

If you've never done speed dating before, the most common feedback from first-timers is: it's way less intimidating than it sounds. The structure does all the hard work. You're not walking into a bar cold, trying to figure out who's single, trying to make an opening. You're sitting at a table with someone you already know is single, looking to meet people, and signed up for exactly this. The weekend is built around making it low-stakes. Arrive five minutes early, grab a drink, and trust the format.

The Crown & Anchor Hotel & Bars · Bars · Provincetown, MA

The Main Venues

Single Women's Weekend is a two-venue weekend: the Crown & Anchor and The Underground. Understanding both helps you plan your night.

The Crown & Anchor

The Crown & Anchor is Provincetown's largest entertainment complex, occupying most of a block at 238 Commercial Street and housing a hotel, multiple bars, the Paramount cabaret, the Wave Bar dance club, and outdoor patios. For Single Women's Weekend, the Crown hosts registration, the Welcome Meet Up, Star Crossed: The Astrology Game Show, the Sappho Singles Variety Show, and the Stop Light Party. If you want to make your life easy, stay at the Crown's hotel and walk to almost everything.

The Crown & Anchor Hotel & Bars · Bars · Provincetown, MA

The Underground Provincetown

The Underground is a late-night dance venue that hosts the Friday FLIRT Hangout & Dance Party and Saturday afternoon's Singles Mingle Club House. It's the looser, louder bookend to the Crown's more programmed events — the room where Friday's speed dating turns into Friday's dancing, and where Saturday afternoon's mingle gets people off their feet before the Variety Show.

Box Lunch

Box Lunch at 334 Commercial Street is a beloved Provincetown sandwich shop that doubles as the temporary host for Friday night's speed dating. It's casual, central, and an easy walk from the Crown & Anchor.

Registration & Pricing

All the ticketing details are at provincetownforwomen.com/single-womens-weekend/tickets. Here's how the two options compare so you can pick the right one for your weekend.

A La Carte Registration

• $45 Early Bird (until May 15)
• $59 on May 16 or on-site
• Includes: Free admission to registrants-only events — the Singles Ice Breaker, Speed Meeting/Dating, and the Singles Happy Hour
• Plus: Special discounts at roughly a dozen Provincetown businesses and raffle entries
• Then: Purchase individual tickets a la carte for the events you want to attend (variety show, astrology game, scavenger hunt, dinners, brunches, parties)

Everything (But The Girl) Package

• $199 (listed at a $225 value)
• Includes everything in A La Carte Registration, plus:
  • Three "Eat-With-Your-Singles-Tribe" meals (Friday dinner, Saturday lunch, Sunday brunch)
  • VIP ticket to the comedy / variety show
  • Singles scavenger hunt entry
  • Friday and Saturday night parties
  • Provincetown souvenir gift

Which One Should You Buy?

Get the Everything Package if you want a frictionless weekend where every meal, every party, and every major event is already covered and you just show up. The math works out in your favor if you plan to do more than a few a la carte events.

Get A La Carte Registration if you're on a budget, want to dip in and out, or want to do the core free events (ice breaker, speed dating, happy hour) and spend the rest of the time doing Provincetown on your own terms. You can always add individual tickets later.

For the most current pricing and any add-on events, check the official tickets page: provincetownforwomen.com/single-womens-weekend/tickets.

What to Do Between Events

The beauty of Single Women's Weekend is that the official programming leaves plenty of daytime and in-between time for actual Provincetown. Here's how to fill the gaps between scheduled events.

Visit Womencrafts

Womencrafts on Commercial Street is a Provincetown institution — one of the oldest feminist and women-owned bookstores in the country, stocked with books, art, jewelry, and gifts by women and queer creators. It's exactly the kind of place you can duck into for 30 minutes between events and come out with a conversation starter, a book, or a gift to hand the person you meet on Friday night. A must-visit during Single Women's Weekend.

Walk Commercial Street

Three miles of galleries, bookshops, boutiques, coffee stops, and restaurants. Mid-May is the quietest version of Commercial Street you'll see until October — crowds are light, storefronts are waking up, and you can actually linger at the gallery windows without getting jostled.

Grab Coffee and People-Watch

Joe Coffee & Cafe, Wired Puppy, and Liz's Cafe Anybody's Bar all make good daytime posts. Grab a coffee, sit outside, and watch the town. This is where you'll run into people you met at the Welcome Meet Up, and "oh hey, it's you" is the lowest-stakes way to start a second conversation.

Head to Herring Cove Beach

If the weather cooperates (a generous assumption in mid-May), grab a blanket and go to Herring Cove Beach. Head to the left (south end) facing the water for the queer section. The ocean is freezing in May — this is not swim weather — but the beach itself is peaceful, gorgeous, and a great place to sit with a coffee and a book when you need a break from structured events.

Do the Gallery Walk

Many of Provincetown's galleries open their season around mid-May, and Single Women's Weekend falls right into gallery-opening season. An hour spent strolling through four or five galleries on Commercial Street is a perfect palate cleanser between the Saturday scavenger hunt and the astrology game show.

Bike the Province Lands

The Province Lands Bike Trail is a 5.5-mile paved loop through dunes and beach pine forest — arguably the most beautiful bike path on the East Coast. Rent a bike on Commercial Street in the morning and spend 60-90 minutes out on the trail. It's a perfect low-stakes activity to invite a new acquaintance on if you're trying to extend a conversation beyond a scheduled event.

Other Bars & Nightlife to Know About

Single Women's Weekend concentrates its official programming at two venues, but Provincetown's broader bar scene is open (or opening) during this weekend and worth knowing about. Mid-May is very early in the season — some of these will be running, some won't — but the ones that are reward a walk-in.

Gifford House · Bars · Provincetown, MA

Gifford House is an LGBTQ+-owned guesthouse with the Porch Bar on the front (a pre-game institution) and Purgatory downstairs (late-night dance floor). Purgatory is where the weekend ends if you want it to — it's where you go after the Stop Light Party when you're not ready to go home.

A-House (Atlantic House) is one of the oldest continuously running gay bars in America and a Provincetown icon. The main bar and dance floor may be open for Single Women's Weekend depending on their seasonal calendar — worth a stop in even if just to say you've been. Mid-May is early, so check their hours before planning a late-night trip.

Shipwreck Lounge at the Harbor Hotel is the quiet-cocktail answer to the weekend's louder events. Stop in between dinner and the Stop Light Party for a drink and a five-minute break from the noise.

Shipwreck Lounge · Bars · Provincetown, MA

Red Room is an intimate cocktail spot with a strong women-centered crowd — exactly the kind of room that fills up during Single Women's Weekend. Check hours for mid-May in advance.

Red Room · Bars · Provincetown, MA

Where to Stay for Single Women's Weekend

Mid-May in Provincetown is the quietest, cheapest window before the season ramps up — which is excellent news if you're booking a room. Rates are a fraction of what they'll be in July, availability is real, and most of Ptown's LGBTQ+-owned guesthouses open for the season in time for this weekend.

Stay at the Crown & Anchor (Most Convenient)

If you want zero friction, stay at the Crown & Anchor. You wake up in the same building as the Welcome Meet Up, the Astrology Game Show, the Variety Show, and the Stop Light Party. Walking upstairs at 1 AM instead of walking home is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade you can buy yourself for this weekend.

The Crown & Anchor Hotel & Bars · Bars · Provincetown, MA

Gifford House (LGBTQ+-Owned, Steps from Everything)

Gifford House is LGBTQ+-owned and home to the Porch Bar and Purgatory dance club. Central, social, and the kind of guesthouse where you tend to make friends at breakfast. A strong pick if you want to be walking distance to the Crown and the Underground without staying at the Crown itself.

Gifford House · Bars · Provincetown, MA

Salt House Inn (Quiet and Stylish)

Salt House Inn is a boutique guesthouse known for its calm courtyard, thoughtful design, and beautifully appointed rooms. A good pick if you want the structured daytime of Single Women's Weekend to be balanced by a quieter base camp at night.

The Brass Key Guesthouse (Upscale, Romantic)

The Brass Key Guesthouse is an upscale B&B with a heated pool, hot tub, and lush gardens. On the more indulgent end of the price scale, but still meaningfully cheaper than peak-season rates.

Crew's Quarters Boarding House (Budget-Friendly, Central)

Crew's Quarters is the budget-friendly pick — central, social, and significantly more affordable than the waterfront hotels. A great option if you're coming solo and want to keep costs down.

Search LGBTQ+-friendly hotels in Provincetown on Expedia →

For a deeper hotel breakdown, read our full LGBTQ+-Friendly Hotels in Provincetown 2026 guide.

Getting to Provincetown

By Ferry (Recommended)

The Boston–Provincetown Fast Ferry runs from Long Wharf in downtown Boston to MacMillan Pier in about 90 minutes. Daily service typically resumes in mid-May, so Single Women's Weekend generally catches the first full week of ferries back in service — check the schedule before you book. Round-trip tickets are approximately $108.

• Book in advance — Friday afternoon and Saturday morning sailings can fill up even in shoulder season
• From Boston Logan Airport: Take the free Massport shuttle to the Blue Line, ride inbound to Aquarium Station — the ferry terminal is directly across the street. Whole trip from baggage claim to boat deck is about 45 minutes.

By Car

About 2 hours from Boston via Route 6 down Cape Cod. Friday afternoon traffic over the Sagamore and Bourne bridges can add time. Parking in Ptown is limited and expensive — most guesthouses include a spot, but once you're in town you won't need a car.

By Air

Cape Air runs seasonal flights from Boston Logan to Provincetown Municipal Airport — a 25-minute flight with dune-top aerial views. Service is usually back on by mid-May.

Getting Around

Provincetown is three miles end to end and flat. Everything in Single Women's Weekend happens within a walkable half-mile cluster on Commercial Street. Rent a bike for beach access and the Province Lands trail; skip the rideshare — there aren't many.

What to Pack

Mid-May in Provincetown is early-spring beach-town weather — sunny afternoons, chilly mornings, and a non-zero chance of fog or rain. Pack layers and don't assume you'll be in a tank top all weekend.

• Layers — T-shirt, light sweater, and a jacket for evenings. Ocean breeze off the harbor makes nights feel cooler than the forecast reads.
• Rain shell — May weather on the Cape flips fast. A compact rain jacket saves an evening.
• One nice outfit for the Sappho Singles Variety Show — Saturday night at the Crown & Anchor is the one "get a little dressed up" moment of the weekend
• Stop Light Party colors — Green (single and looking), yellow (it's complicated), red (taken). Pack at least one top or accessory in your chosen color.
• Comfortable walking shoes — You'll walk miles of Commercial Street over three days
• Sunglasses — The light off the harbor is brutal
• A small notebook or phone notes app — For speed dating recall. You're going to meet a lot of people and they will blur together. A few words after each conversation helps.
• Business card or a way to quickly share your Instagram — Faster than typing numbers into phones over and over

Tips for First-Timers

If this is your first Single Women's Weekend, here's what experienced attendees tend to tell newcomers.

Come Alone If You Can

The best possible version of this weekend is the one where you show up by yourself, knowing no one, with nothing to prove. Every structured event is designed to pair you with strangers. If you come with a group of friends, the gravity of your own group will pull you away from meeting new people. The people who walk away with the most new connections are almost always the ones who arrived solo.

Say Yes to the Structured Events

The scavenger hunt, the astrology game show, the Sappho Singles Variety Show — these are where conversations actually start. Skipping them for "low-key" nights at a quiet bar looks tempting from the outside but tends to be the move most first-timers regret. The structure is the whole point.

Pace Yourself

It's a three-day weekend with a lot of events and a lot of socializing. You will not do all of them well. Pick your anchor events — Friday speed dating, Saturday scavenger hunt, Saturday variety show, Stop Light Party — and let the rest be flexible. Napping Saturday afternoon is not a failure, it's good strategy.

Don't Oversell Yourself

The shortest, weirdest rule of the weekend: be a person, not a resume. The connections that turn into something are almost never the ones built on job titles and home zip codes. Lead with a joke, a question, an observation about the room. The five-minute speed dating window is designed to make small talk feel pointless — use it for something real.

Follow Up

Speed dating ends. The weekend ends. The connections you make don't have to. Reach out within a week — a text, an Instagram DM, a "hey, loved meeting you at Stop Light" — and you'll be amazed how many of the people you clicked with Saturday night are actually hoping you do.

Single Women's Weekend vs. Women's Week in October

Provincetown has two major women-centered weeks on its annual calendar, and it's worth knowing the difference so you can pick the right one (or, ideally, go to both).

Single Women's Weekend — May

• When: Mid-May (May 15-17 in 2026)
• Length: 3 days
• Focus: Specifically for single lesbians looking to meet other singles
• Vibe: Structured, playful, mixer-heavy, speed dating at its core
• Size: Smaller, more intimate, deliberately contained
• Season: Before summer officially starts — quiet Commercial Street, shoulder-season prices

Women's Week (Golden Girls) — October

• When: Mid-October
• Length: A full week
• Focus: All queer women — singles, couples, groups, friends
• Vibe: Sprawling, event-packed, multi-venue, includes comedy headliners, film events, dances, and parties
• Size: Huge — one of the biggest women-centered events in the country
• Season: End of summer foliage, shoulder-season prices, cooler weather

If you're specifically looking to meet single queer women in a structured setting, Single Women's Weekend is the right pick. If you want the full sprawling Ptown women's takeover, Women's Week in October is the bigger experience. A lot of regulars do both — one for the meet-cute, one for the reunion.

Events to Watch for Around Single Women's Weekend

Single Women's Weekend is the main event, but mid-May in Provincetown also overlaps with:

• Gallery season openings — Many galleries open their 2026 season right around this weekend
• Early-season cabaret — The Crown & Anchor and Art House begin their season lineups
• Drag brunches returning — Weekly drag brunch programming starts ramping up at various venues
• Guesthouse open houses — A handful of Ptown inns do open houses for the new season

For the live calendar of all upcoming events in town, browse Provincetown events on Out x Out.

When Is Single Women's Weekend 2026 in Provincetown?

Single Women's Weekend 2026 runs Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The main programming is anchored at The Crown & Anchor and The Underground, with Friday night speed dating at Box Lunch and Sunday's farewell brunch at Bay Cafe. Thursday May 14 has an optional early birds dinner for people arriving a day early. Full schedule and registration at provincetownforwomen.com.

How Much Does Single Women's Weekend Cost?

A La Carte Registration is $45 early bird (until May 15) or $59 on May 16 or on-site. The all-inclusive Everything (But the Girl) Package is $199 and includes three meals, a VIP ticket to the comedy/variety show, the scavenger hunt, Friday and Saturday night parties, and a Provincetown souvenir gift. A La Carte registration already includes free admission to the Singles Ice Breaker, Speed Meeting/Dating, and Singles Happy Hour — plus discounts at around a dozen local businesses. Full pricing at provincetownforwomen.com/single-womens-weekend/tickets.

Do I Have to Come Alone to Single Women's Weekend?

No — but most people do, and most people who come alone say it was the right call. The weekend is specifically designed for single women to meet other single women, so the entire structure assumes you're arriving solo and makes it easy to connect. You can absolutely come with a friend, but be intentional about splitting up during events so you actually meet new people.

How Does the Speed Dating at Single Women's Weekend Work?

Speed dating happens Friday, May 15 at 7:30 PM at Box Lunch (334 Commercial Street). You rotate through short conversations — typically 3-5 minutes each — with other registered singles, keep notes on who you'd like to see again, and organizers follow up with mutual matches after the event. Access to speed dating is included free with both A La Carte Registration and the Everything Package.

Is Single Women's Weekend Only for Lesbians?

The weekend is built around single lesbian, queer, and bi women meeting each other. It's explicitly women-centered and designed for queer women — if that describes you, you're the target audience. For specifics on eligibility and any community guidelines, check the official site at provincetownforwomen.com.

What's the Difference Between Single Women's Weekend and Women's Week in Provincetown?

Single Women's Weekend is a 3-day event in mid-May specifically designed for single queer women to meet each other through structured speed dating, mixers, and games. Women's Week (also called Golden Girls Week) is a much larger, full-week event in mid-October for all queer women — singles, couples, and groups — with comedy headliners, film events, and a sprawling multi-venue calendar. Both are women-centered, but Single Women's Weekend is smaller, more intimate, and explicitly about making connections between singles.

What Should I Wear to the Stop Light Party?

Green if you're single and looking, yellow if it's complicated, red if you're already taken. The Stop Light Party is Saturday, May 17 at 9 PM at The Crown & Anchor. Your shirt (or accessories) tell the room your status at a glance. Most people bring at least one top in their chosen color — some veterans bring all three colors in case the weekend shifts their status.

Is Provincetown Open in Mid-May for Single Women's Weekend?

Partially. Single Women's Weekend is a full week before Memorial Day Weekend, which is Provincetown's official summer-season start. Most of the main LGBTQ+-owned guesthouses and large venues (The Crown & Anchor, The Underground, Gifford House, Boatslip) open for the season in time for Single Women's Weekend, but many smaller bars, restaurants, and shops wait until late May or early June. Plan your nightlife around the main players and don't be surprised if a few spots are still shuttered. This also means: shoulder-season pricing and actual walkable Commercial Street.

Can I Get to Provincetown by Ferry for Single Women's Weekend?

Yes — the Boston–Provincetown Fast Ferry from Long Wharf in Boston runs daily service starting in mid-May, so Single Women's Weekend typically falls within the first full week of ferry operation. The trip is about 90 minutes each way. Book in advance; Friday and Saturday sailings can sell out even in shoulder season. Round-trip tickets are about $108.

Do I Need a Car in Provincetown for Single Women's Weekend?

No. Everything in Single Women's Weekend — the Crown & Anchor, The Underground, Box Lunch, and Bay Cafe — is within walking distance of almost any hotel or guesthouse in the center of town. Take the ferry or fly in, walk from the pier, and rent a bike if you want to reach the outer beaches. A car is more burden than benefit in Ptown.

Is Single Women's Weekend Good for First-Timers to Provincetown?

Very. The structured programming makes it easy to meet people without needing to know the town, and mid-May is the least crowded, most walkable version of Provincetown you'll see all season. First-time visitors often find Single Women's Weekend the easiest entry point to Ptown — you have built-in community, an event schedule to follow, and fewer crowds to navigate.

Single Women's Weekend is one of those rare, purpose-built weekends where the entire point is meeting people — and the whole town leans into it. Come solo, say yes to the structured events, and trust the format. By Sunday brunch you'll have more new names in your phone than most dating apps get you in a year.

Browse Provincetown events on Out x Out → | Explore Provincetown venues → | Read the full LGBTQ+ Guide to Provincetown → | Memorial Day Weekend in Provincetown 2026 → | Official Single Women's Weekend site →