America’s Best Beards: The Results of the 2018 Great American Beard and Mustache Championships
Richmond, VA Every other year, The Alliance (short for The North American Competitive Beard and Mustache Alliance, or NACBMA) works together to promote, coordinate, and schedule their Great American Beard and Mustache Championship. The specific host for each championship is voted on by them based on submitted bids.
This championship alternates with WBMA’s World Championship, and so is held on even numbered years. The idea behind the championships is to grow and promote beards while raising money for local and national non-profits. Their national charity is the Humane Society, and this year’s local charity was The Pink Ink Fund, a fund that supports post-mastectomy breast cancer patients with reconstructive, restorative, and recovery tattoos.
This year, the host club was the RVA Beard League out of Richmond. They focus on promoting a respect for beards through community, charity, and camaraderie.
All this to say that this is a pretty fantastic group of individuals fighting the good fight from top to bottom. The judges for this year’s championships bring pride to the event, take a look at them:
Bill Petersen, Missouri
"Taxi Phil" Jones, Ohio
Rita Bielefeldt, California
Greg Schoenwolf, Utah
Jeremy Smith, Washington
Jason Kiley, Wisconsin
Chris Adler, Virginia
This championship has some incredible categories, covering Mustache, Partial Beard, Full Beard, and Artistic.
If you’re interested in the specific qualifications for the categories, you can find them on their site here.
From judge to contestant, contestant to spectator, this event had some beautiful beards and mustaches. Here are a few of our favorites among the Blue Ribbon winners:
Hungarian Mustache
Chad Holgerson, Missouri
Goatee Natural
Patrick Dawson, Washington
Realistic Artistic
Natali Johnston, South Carolina
Sideburns/Mutton Chops
Patrick Quinn
Whaler/Donegal/Amish
Shannon Clinkenbeard, Texas
Imperial Partial Beard
Mehmet Mete, Germany
Full Beard Natural, Under 12"
Bob Gallagher, Pennsylvania
Full Beard Natural With Mustache
Scott Metts, Florida
Did you attend this year’s Great American Beard and Mustache Championship? Did you compete? We’d love to hear from you! Send us your pictures on Facebook or Instagram and we’ll feature you in our newsletter!
