Start trimming, tweaking and growing those beards, the Okanagan Beard Festival is back.
Tim Tweed, co-organizer with Okanoggin Barbers owner Peter Beauchamp, started the festival last year with around 47 beards in the running.
“The first year was a pretty good success. This year we’re hoping for more contestants. By all accounts, people just expressing interest at the barbershop and whatnot, it sounds like we’re probably going to have up to 50 per cent more competitors this year,” Tweed said.
The festival plays out at different venues over multiple nights of beard measuring and judging, each on a Monday night, adding two more this year for a total of six nights of beard-filled action. The festival is hoping to shore up some new venues this year with the schedule to be released later this month.
The kick off takes place at Cannery Brewing Co. on Jan. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. Tweed said to show up early for registration, and get ready to have your head shot taken.
“They don’t need to start clean shaven, they can start at any point in the growth cycle,” Tweed said.
This year features 12 categories once again from beards to moustaches and combinations, with a few slight tweaks to both categories and judging.
A new category for best barber is pitting those responsible for trimming and upkeep against each other, trying to get the most clients into the top of the rankings.
“Almost like how they do it on The Voice, where the judges have different teams. So the barbers, their clients will be part of the competition and obviously the barbers want to get as many of their clients as they can in gold as they say, in the medals,” Tweed said.
Tweed and Beauchamp were unsure what to expect launching the festival for the first time ever last year.
“We were really, really pleasantly surprised with the warm reception it received and how quickly people got on board. I think based on the popularity of it last year, a lot of the same contestants want to return this year,” Tweed said. “They’re going to up their game a little bit, go for more for more sculpted looks, longer growth or a little bit more of a performance element to it.”
The event once again has money raised going towards Discovery House, a long-term, live-in mens’ recovery house in Penticton.
The festival is adding more live entertainment to the event nights, and currently on the lookout for local musicians, dancers and performers.
Tweed noted there is a percentage of competitors last year who are single, making it a good opportunity for beard-loving ladies.
“If there’s any single ladies out there who are particularly fond of bearded men this is a great place to come and mix and mingle and meet a bunch of single beardos,” Tweed laughed.
For more information visit www.okanaganbeardfestival.com.