PHOTOS: How the Festivities Went Down at Women's Week Provincetown 2013

As it has since 1984, this year’s Women’s Week Provincetown marked another festive fall escape for thousands of lesbians to dreamy Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Ladies from far and wide came out in force for ten mid-October days of amazing entertainment and events pulled together by the Women Innkeepers of Provincetown, a consortium of nine women-owned inns.

Aiming the limelight at lesbian entertainers like ever-enchanting, hilarious Kate Clinton, who performed her SIS-BOOM-BAH stand-up show daily, the group kept fun on a high burn. The 2013 roster also saw the uproarious likes of Suzanne Westenhoefer, Karen Williams, Vicki Shaw, Jennie McNulty, and many more loose-tongued ladies, with musicians from jazz vocalist Suede to rockers Betty (remember The L-Word theme song?) and Melissa Ferrick interspersed.

But of course few lez-proud celebrations are complete without ample wilding. Enter the annual Lesbian Idol sing-off, where Karen Williams and her crew of comedian judges went from semi-serious rankings to total on-stage abandon thanks to an increasingly flirtatious roster of average-jo singers -- topped by a randy rendition of Salt-n-Pepa’s Shoop. Other days brought afternoon tea dances, film screenings, lectures, P-town history and harbor tours, Kate Clinton’s touch-football “game,” and the highly anticipated wet t-shirt contest.

This also was the second without the old familiar ladies’ haunt Vixen Nightclub, which in May 2012 was reopened as Sage Inn and Lounge -- a lesbian-owned hotel with versatile restaurant, bar and event space in the heart of town. Owner-partners Diane DiCarlo and Jeanne Leszczynski hosted a slew of travelers, and continue to support the local non-profit scene -- welcoming cultural organizations, authors and others to gather there, particularly in the quieter winter months.

“There's been a general feeling about the lack of lesbian travelers as of late,” says Sage Inn General Manager Cathy Nagorski about today’s P-town scene. “But we are committed to spreading the word and doing everything we can to show and tell women about Provincetown. It is such a special place but lately it has been perceived as a gay man’s destination. But we love telling people about our little place at the end of land. There's something for everyone here.”

Be sure to book early for Women’s Week Provincetown 2014!

The Famed Crown & Anchor 

Break out your bibs! 

Stand-up comic Jami Smith 

Legendary Stand-Up Comic Karen Williams 

Lengedary Stand-Up Comic Vicki Shaw 

Shaw and Williams 

Oh yeah. That's Kate Clinton on the far left. 

Uh oh. A little Wet t-shirt contest for the ladies!