World Beard Championship in Berlin

Berlin, capital of all that is weird and wonderful, is set to host the world championship in beards and moustaches. Not since the days of the Kaiser has the city seen such magnificent facial hair. Meanwhile in the US, Americans wonder just how democratic their country really is. And could it be November before Germany forms a new government?

Apparently wearing facial hair can also be a sport. The World Championship is being held in Berlin on October 1.
It's all happening in Berlin. In 2006 the soccer World Cup will be coming to the German capital, tourism to the city is taking off like never before and now, the crowning event. This weekend, the World Championship in Beards and Moustaches will be taking place in the German capital for the first time ever. Admittedly the event may be more of a niche interest, but judging by the extravagance of some of the facial hair, these guys mean business.

According to Heinrich Dubel, who wears both lipstick and a walrus waxed moustache and will be entering the freestyle competition on Saturday, "The organized german beard-movement is a dazzling sub-culture drawing attention from other dazzling sub-cultures so diverse as Wild-West-Freaks or the fans of the German Emperor."

The event kicks off Saturday, Oct. 1 with the moustache competition at 2 p.m., the goatee and sideburn competition at 4 p.m. and the full beard vying for first place at 5:30. The prizes will then be awarded in the evening, followed by an ominously sounding "attractive live program." Presumably this involves facial hair of some description -- although what exactly the show consists of is not quite clear. Some 300 bearded and mustachioed members of the global facial hair community are expected to take part in the competition.

Berlin's Beard Club was established in 1996 and is part of Germany's National Federation of Beard Clubs, the official greeting of which is "May the beard grow." The Berlin Beard Club is made up 22 rather dada-esque looking gentlemen who meet once a month to discuss how to best maintain facial hair and organize up-coming beard competitions, such as the recent Beard Olympic Games in Austria. But apart from just getting together a load of blokes with facial hair, it is hard to actually pin-point what exactly the aim of the organization is. Maybe, in this age of H&M uniformity, the joy of seeing someone seriously sporting a foot-long moustache should be rationale enough. (2:30 p.m. CET)