Men from Around the World Compete in World Beard and Moustache Championships

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on May 21 2009

World Beard Contest 2007. Photo By Stephanie Watson

With categories like the Natural, the English, the Wild West, and the Freestyle, the contest may sound a bit like an Olympic sporting event—and the contestants take it just as seriously, despite the fact that their competition relies more on skill with a razor and a bottle of gel than on physical prowess.

Since 1990, hirstute competitors from around the world have been coming together to compete in the biennial World Beard and Moustache Championships, showing off their bizarre and creative facial hair arrangements for the chance of winning first prize in one of eighteen categories, from the Wild Bill Hickok-esqe “Wild West” to the grizzly “Alaskan Whaler,” as well as the anything-goes “Freestyle.” There’s not much in the way of prizes, other than the honor of being selected—but for the men who compete, it’s just about having a great time and showing off their style.

This year’s competition takes place in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, and features a roster of more than 200 impressively hairy contestants from 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, and Austria. One German competitor, Elmar Weisser, may be tough to beat: in earlier competitions, he’s styled his beloved beard into famous architectural feats such as London’s Tower Bridge and Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate. He takes the contest so seriously that he has his own mobile salon, equipped to prep his beard into shape at a moment’s notice.

One podiatrist from Evansville, Illinois, David Powell, hopes to defeat Weisser by paying tribute to a local Alaskan symbol, though: he’s shaping his bushy moustache into “a whale with a tail,” he told the Courier Press. “Don’t people go to Alaska to see whales? Maybe I can be a hometown favorite.”

Cross your fingers that he might stand a shot against the notorious Weisser on Saturday—but in the meantime, check out these hilarious photo galleries of contestants from past competitions!

The Official Gallery

2007 Contest Photos from the BBC

Time Magazine Photo Essay

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, General Interest, Weird,

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