The Merrymeeting Arts Center’s annual Ice & Smelt Festival is coming. And that can only mean one thing — beards.
The Best Beard Contest was a key attraction at the Ice & Smelt Festival in Bowdoinham last year, and it will happen again this year, Saturday, Feb. 2.
This year, the Maine Facial Hair Club is coordinating the event with awards for best full beard; best partial beard; best moustache; and “best freestyle beard.” A fifth category has been added: best fake beard.
The contest will be held at 2 p.m. in the Masonic Lodge on lower Main Street. Entry to the contest is included in the price of a $5 admission bracelet for the day’s events.
At 7 p.m. Feb. 1, “Hardwater” — a feature-length documentary exploring the culture of ice fishing in Maine — will be screened at Cathance Landing.
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