One competition in Belgium is certainly hair raising! These men traveled from all around the globe to participate in this event. Buzz60’s Mercer Morrison has the story.
The World Beard and Mustache competition is held every two years. According to the official website the origins of this hairy competition isn’t clear:
Like many things having to do with the sport of international bearding, the history of the sport is shrouded in controversy. One Italian group claims that it held the first championships in Northern Italy in the early 1970′s, it seems more likely that modern competitive bearding an event began with a 1990 event organized and hosted by the First Höfener Beard Club (1. Höfener Bartclub) in its hometown Höfen/Enz, Germany, a small village in the Black Forest. In 1995, the same club hosted the second World Beard and Moustache Championships in the nearby city of Pforzheim.
EUROPEAN DOMINANCE
After 1995, local beard clubs in Northern Europe began organizing international competitions every two years. In 1997, the Norwegian Moustache Club (Den Norske Mustaschklubben), headquartered in Trondheim held the competition in its hometown of Trondheim. Two years later the Swedish Moustache Club (Svenska Mustaschklubben) organized the championships in Ystad, at the extreme southern end of Sweden. In 2001, the Swabian Beard and Moustache Club (Schwäbische Bart- und Schnauzerclub) celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting the championships in its hometown of Schömberg.
Austin, Texas hosted the 2017 Competition. The next competition in 2021, will be held in Auckland, New Zealand.
