SEATTLE (AP) — This story stands tall. Literally.
At a Seattle sports bar on a recent Saturday evening, hundreds of exceptionally tall individuals experienced something uncommon: fitting in. Women wearing their tallest heels had to stretch their necks upward to meet someone’s gaze. Men accustomed to ducking through doorways appeared average-sized. For one night, no one had to answer questions about why they don’t play basketball.
This is Tall Tour, a traveling gathering that attracts thousands nationwide to honor the singular physical characteristic that has distinguished them throughout their lives — sometimes positively, sometimes not. Since beginning last summer, the tour has made stops in 19 cities, with attendance growing from just 30 participants in Tampa, Florida to approximately 4,000 in Orlando, event organizers report. The Seattle gathering brought together roughly 750 people, they noted.
“You’re moving around and there are individuals your height and people even taller than you when you believed you were simply this enormous oddity,” explained Tyler Bergantino, the tour’s 6-foot-9 creator who requires a size-16 shoe. “That’s something that I believe is very therapeutic for tall people.”
The idea developed almost by chance. Bergantino, 32, a former software sales professional turned TikTok content creator, shared an informal invitation on social media during a trip through Texas. He sought content material. Instead, he ignited a nationwide phenomenon.
“It developed organically,” he explained. “I can’t really claim responsibility for it.”
Every event follows a consistent structure: Tall individuals congregate, capture photographs, exchange advice for footwear shopping and share experiences about bumping their heads on door frames and squeezing into airplane seats.
For numerous women, the evening’s primary attraction is the speed dating segment and the possibility of encountering someone willing to date a taller woman — whether that involves matching their stature, surpassing it or simply accepting it. Many connected over the mutual difficulty of navigating a dating environment that continues to prefer shorter women.
“Dating as a tall woman, you feel like you’re intimidating to people,” expressed 25-year-old Ksenia Protasenko, who stands 6 feet tall. “There’s this association with you being a warrior type, but it’s not true. It’s tough to have your height as the first thing people notice about you because it feels like people are not really seeing any vulnerable parts of you.”
Protasenko mentioned that men frequently inquire whether she plays basketball. She typically has a response prepared.
“I tell them, ‘Yeah, sure,’ even though I don’t,” she said. “Then I ask them if they play mini golf. That seems to straighten them right up.”
The peak moment arrives when organizers announce the tallest man and woman present. In Seattle, those honors went to a mother and son. Susan Mullendore, 44 and 6-foot-5, stood next to her son Grayson, 19 and 7 feet tall, as the audience cheered enthusiastically.
“As a mom, just seeing Grayson having this experience meant the world to me,” Susan said. “To be able to be crowned with him was really special. It was nice to have our height celebrated.”
For Grayson, a college freshman, the evening provided something unusual: a sense of belonging. When in public, he explained, strangers make remarks and take photos of him without permission. “People think that because we’re tall they can say whatever they want or do whatever they want, like we’re zoo animals almost,” he said.
At Tall Tour, the situation reversed.
“It was insane to feel small for once,” he said, referencing the event’s 7-foot-3 and 7-foot-4 co-hosts known as the Tall Boys. “It was so surreal to be able to have a conversation and look people in the eyes.”
That shared experience goes beyond footwear sizes. Participants describe a lifetime of social awareness — adjusting their voices to higher tones to appear less threatening, moving slowly around corners to avoid startling people, hunching over to blend in.
“You’re hyper-fixated on making sure that people don’t see you as a threat,” Bergantino said.
Tall individuals frequently feel isolated and misplaced, especially during adolescence he explained, mentioning he reached 6-foot-9 at age 16. But at Tall Tour, participants can finally experience belonging.
“It heals a portion of your inner child,” he said. “Everyone’s walls come down, and it’s like we’re all one family.”
Susan understands that sentiment.
“Sometimes you just want to go through the airport and be left alone. And that doesn’t happen for us. We usually get a lot of whispers,” she said. “We get it. It’s shocking to see tall people. But sometimes it does get old.”
The difficulties go beyond social discomfort. Locating clothing and footwear that fits can be challenging. Susan, who requires a size-14 shoe, purchases clothing from a specialty company in the United Kingdom. To accommodate his dormitory bed, Grayson added a mattress extension and three plywood sheets for support. He still extends beyond the edge.
Bergantino left his sales position two years ago and now operates Tall Tour full-time with a small team including his brother, who manages video and social media, a chief executive officer and a chief operating officer.
Even famous personalities have noticed. Seven-foot-6 basketball player Mamadou Ndiaye attended the Los Angeles gathering and the team has communicated with 7-foot-1 NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
Upcoming plans include expanding speed dating opportunities, creating a fashion show featuring height-inclusive brands and models, and developing spinoffs such as Tall Tour at Sea. International destinations in Canada, Dubai, London, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan are also under consideration. Bergantino says he aims to create “the tall-person ecosystem” — advocacy for exit row seating, improved clothing options and even a mobile application.
For now, the satisfaction comes in smaller moments, like watching women in heels celebrate the height that previously caused embarrassment.
“The most joy of the day comes from the Tall Queen when she gets her crown and everyone’s going crazy,” he said. “It gets me every time.”
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Tall Tour will continue through May with two additional stops in Houston and Dallas, Texas. Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram.
