Strange Planet: Got Hair?

Willi Chevalier has won the “partial beard freestyle category” at the World Beard and Moustache Championships almost every year.

As a Seattleite, I’m well aware of the many stereotypes of the Pacific Northwest: We all wear socks with Birkenstocks, sport flannel shirts, eat granola while listening to grunge music, among many others. But one I’ve never heard of is that Pacific Northwesterners have unusually creative facial hair. It appears, though, that I’m about to be proven wrong.

On July 5, Bremerton, Washington (a short ferry ride from Seattle), will play host to the first-ever North American Beard and Moustache Championships. This is in preparation for the 2009 World Championships, which will be held in Anchorage, Alaska, on May 23. The 2009 championship will be the second time the event has taken place in the U.S. (the first was in Carson City, Nevada, in 2003). Event organizers in Washington (said to be the “Switzerland of America”) hope to draw some 150 competitors this year.

This hairy worldwide competition has been taking place every two years since 1997, and officially began in 1990, when Germany’s First Höfener Beard Club organized the championship in the Black Forest. Since then the world competition has taken place in Norway, Sweden, the U.S., Germany (again), and the U.K. Before you head to the competition, check out the Beard Team USA‘s blog and the online gallery of the best beards in the world.

Photo: JJWaller

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