Stache bash and facial hair phenoms coming to Pittsburgh for contest

Downtown will be full of hairy happenings next week, as Pittsburgh hosts the 2025 World Beard and Moustache Championships. 

Mad Viking Beard Club Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing together facial hair enthusiasts, and the World Beard and Moustache Association have joined forces to put on the three-day event. It takes place at Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts on Penn Avenue.

Contestants from over 28 countries will compete across 37 different facial hair categories, six of which are unique craft categories focusing on creativity and craftsmanship behind the hair.

Bryan Nelson, president of the World Beard and Moustache Association, said people should expect to see anything from super long mustaches to girthy beards to facial hair made out of inanimate objects.

“Most of these guys are very outgoing… they’re strutting around like peacocks in the first place, in their everyday life,” he said. “They get a chance to shine.”

The World Beard and Moustache Championship has been going on for 35 years. The first event, organized by Höfener Bart- und Schnorresclub, took place in Höfen, Germany in 1990. Since then, the event has been held across Europe and made its way to the U.S.

It has been seven years since the championship was last hosted in the U.S.

While the competitions don’t officially begin until Thursday, the event’s festivities kick off Wednesday afternoon at the Pirates vs Cardinals game.

“We are named the official charity of the Pirates game,” said Erin Neiper, event coordinator and secretary for Mad Viking Beard Club. “We’ll have a small booth, we have a section in the stands and and I guess we get to throw out the first pitch.”

All proceeds from the weekend will be donated to the UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation, a news release said.

On Thursday morning, competitors and spectators will meet at a staging area in Mellon Square on Sixth Avenue before parading over to Heinz Hall at 9 a.m. From Thursday to Saturday, there are back-to-back competitions, judged by facial hair experts representing a range of clubs from across the world, the website said.

To cap off each day of the competition the World Beard and Moustache Championship is hosting a series of parties in the North Shore including, karaoke at Tequila Cowboy on Thursday, an after party at Shorty’s Pins x Pints on Friday and a wing eating contest at Bigham Tavern on Saturday.

Competitor passes cost $80 and include registration, admission for all three days, a lanyard and access to entertainment. Spectator passes cost $60 and three-day admission and entertainment and day passes cost $20 and include single-day admission and access to entertainment, the website said.

“It’s kind of a brotherhood, a large group of friends, that just set out to do great things within the community, and happen to be rocking their beards,” Neiper said.