Captain Ron Wolek held the second official Fantasy Fest Beard contest...
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KEY WEST — A man whose live-aboard boat was docked in LaBelle in October and November won the Best in Show prize at the Fantasy Fest Beard contest in Key West.
Captain Ron Wolek held the second official Fantasy Fest Beard contest at the General Horseplay saloon, 423 Caroline Street in Key West, Florida on Oct. 24. The contest is unique, because it is one of the only beard contests open to all genders to take part and build their own beards out of creative and strange materials. Both men and women compete in the Fantasy Beard categories; and all you need to do is show up with hair on your face regardless of your sex or gender to qualify to enter.
After he learned of the contest, Steven Trypuc drove more than 5 hours from LaBelle to the General Horseplay and measured in with a over 12 inch long white Santa Claus beard to win the largest prize, Best in Show, and was crowned the 2022 Fantasy Fest Champion.
“We have big plans for next year," said Ron Wolek, the contest organizer, “like including more interactive online features. The contest is to inspire all genders to embrace something that men only could do; wear hair on their face, and grow an event where all genders can enter for fun and creatively.”
Gary Ek, host of Key West’s Barefoot Radio 104.9 remarked on his Saturday evening show: “There is a saying coined in Key West: If you spend more time caring for your beard than your liver, then you are on the right island."
The championship was held adhering to National Beard and Mustache Association’s strict standards for competitions, certifying all recipients with trophies as recognized title holders amongst world wide beard competitors.
Fantasy Fest is an annual creative costume festival that began in 1979 and has grown to a yearly event that attracts over 70,000 revelers to the island city of Key West, growing to becoming the second largest mardi gras style festival in the country. Wolek’s Famous Beard Championship is an officially sanctioned Fantasy Fest event for two years running as a Life of the Party Sponsor.
Wolek’s Famous Beard Championship will hold the third official festival sanctioned event; the Fantasy Fest Beard Contest on Oct. 23, 2023 during Fantasy Fest 2023, which has been dubbed the year of “Uniforms & Unicorns."
Trypec lives aboard his 34-foot Gemini Catamaran and enjoys spending time in LaBelle.
He said he has been growing his beard for 6.5 years. "I had a shorter beard before," he explained. "I gave up trimming it six and a half years ago."
He said growing an award-winning beard requires patience. "Sometimes you just have to be lucky with the way it grows in," he added.
He keeps his beard clean and oils it frequently.