Whiskers Welcome
is the VanFHC's 11th annual charity facial hair competition, benefitting Street Thug Barbers, a decade-old local initiative providing free haircuts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Join us Saturday May 16th, 2026
at Hero's Welcome, Vancouver BC. Registration/doors 1pm
Competition 2-5pm
All Things Whiskers Welcome
We are back to putting our furry and faux-furry fans back to looking fabulous AND being philanthropic — so lock down the date, book time off, and get ready to put your furry face forward to raise money for 2026's charity of choice, Street Thug Barbers.
NEW THIS YEAR
- an afternoon comp so you can bring the whole family (doors at 1, comp 2-5)
- swag bags of product and merch for every competitor
RETURNING FAVOURITES
- free portrait and candid photography by Monte Arnold and Alan Bailward
- raffle and silent auction table including baskets of beard products, tickets to local sports and theatre events, artwork, and more
- our famous 50/50 draw
- our promise that 100% of your $25 or $10 ticket goes directly to our charity of choice, Street Thug Barbers
Our 10 categories (and their sponsors) in running order for those of you planning to compete in 2 or more, are:
1. Moustache (Captain Fawcett)
2. Full Beard under 4" (Valley Boys Beard)
3. Full Beard 4" - 9” (Cape Bretton Beard Factory)
4. Full Beard over 9” (Victory Barbers)
5. Partial Beard (Bia Boro)
6. Whiskerina (Derby City Whisker Club)
7. Styled Stache / Natural Beard (Firehouse Moustache Wax)
8. Styled Stache /Groomed Beard (Beard Daddy Beard Oil)
9. Build-a-Beard (Hero's Welcome)
10. Freestyle (open to all) (Heritage Salon)
Detailed category descriptions can be found below, on our FAQ page, AND on our registration form
Once again, our venue this year is Hero's Welcome, a community-focused pub that honours the venue's former use as home to the ANAF 298 Taurus Unit @heros.welcome http://heros-welcome.com
Coming from out of town and need a place to stay? Once again the newly renovated and fabulously refurbished 2400 Motel located at 2400 Kingsway, offers a very generous Comp Weekend accommodation deal: 15% discount wins you use "VFHC" as the "group code" to receive the discount online --- May 14-18 available dates! @2400motel https://2400motel.com/
We'll kick off with a meet'n'greet event on Friday night for our locals and out-of-towners to mix and mingle at Strange Fellows Brewery 1345 Clark Drive
https://www.facebook.com/events/2399317760491019
Need a place to refuel and to relive the glories of the night before? Join us for Sunday brunch at Chaise Lounge on Main St https://www.facebook.com/events/958195530040371
Follow our event on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1809276179933855/
Any questions so far? Message us, we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Donations Welcome
As part of our event, we are seeking unique and interesting items to raffle and auction off. In previous years we’ve had contributions such as grooming products, artwork, apparel, household items, and gift certificates. Every penny raised though our Whiskers Welcome auctions, raffles, and 50/50 will go directly to Street Thug Barbers
Category Sponsors Welcome
The generous contributions by sponsors to our annual Facial Hair Competitions have helped us raise $13,284.60 in the last 5 years for worthy causes such as Covenant House, PLEA Community Services, Movember, HeadsUpGuys, Greater Vancouver Food Bank, and Canadian Men’s Health Association. (See "Past Competitons" for details)
Our 2026 charity of choice is Street Thug Barbers (@streetthugbarbers)
This year we have a new structure to our donation system, so we can best share the promotional love. We have eliminated the Title Sponsor tier and are instead going with 10 Category Sponsors.
To Sponsor one of our 10 Categories (available FCFS), we are requesting a $100 cash donation, along with a selection of products (or gift card) for our raffle table. Any categories not claimed by March 1st will be available for Sponsors looking to double or triple their generosity.
We will also be giving each contestant a “goody bag” of products for signing up (versus past comps where only winners received swag), so any additional product/samples/promo you can donate for that would be greatly appreciated.
In return, sponsors will receive multiple, ongoing Social Media mentions, including a spotlight on our website and our FB event page, and our guarantee that a minimum for $50 from your donation, along with all proceeds from the raffle, will go directly to Street Thug Barbers.
Categories
Something for everyone.
Competitors can register to compete in 1 or more of the following categories:
Moustache
A moustache in all of its natural glory, or groomed to perfection. All hair growing from more than 1.5 cm past the corner of the mouth must be shaved.
Full Beard Under 4"
A natural beard with integrated moustache under 4 inches long, as measured from bottom of lower lip.
*No styling aids permitted.
*Acceptable styling methods include brushing, combing, conditioning, and shampooing.
Full Beard 4”-9"
A natural beard with integrated moustache between 4 - 9 inches long, as measured from bottom of lower lip.
*No styling aids permitted.
*Acceptable styling methods include brushing, combing, conditioning, and shampooing.
Full Beard Over 9"
A natural beard with integrated moustache over 9" inches long, as measured from bottom of lower lip.
*No styling aids permitted.
*Acceptable styling methods include brushing, combing, conditioning, and shampooing.
Partial Beard
Any natural or styled facial hair that does not qualify as a traditional moustache or beard, with shaved parts distinguishing it from a full beard with integrated moustache. Popular examples include the Goatee, Chops, Whaler, Donegal, Fu Manchu, and Musketeer.
*Styling aids are permitted.
Styled Stache & Natural Beard
A beard as described in any natural beard category, with a moustache that is distinct from the beard but not including hair growing from more than 1.5cm past the corner of the mouth.
*Styling aids are permitted in the moustache only.
Styled Stache & Groomed Beard
A beard as described in any natural beard category, with a moustache that is distinct from the beard but not including hair growing from more than 1.5cm past the corner of the mouth.
*Styling aids are permitted in the moustache AND beard.
Build-a-Beard
Our "all inclusive / anything goes" category that welcomes the smooth-faced AND those who currently grow facial hair, and want to get crafty! Open to people who want to embellish their own beard, or to create something entirely new. This is the category to break out your crafting skills, with no restrictions on materials or styling aids. Judging emphasizes creativity and difficulty.
Whiskerina
Open to those free of their own facial hair who want to create a realistic OR fantasy look. This is the category to break out your crafting skills — you can use anything and everything to construct your own beard &/or moustache. The creation must be able to hang freely from the face/head without manual assistance. Judging emphasizes realism for realistic beards, and creativity and difficulty for fantasy beards.
Freestyle
The famous "anything goes" category! Judging emphasizes creativity and difficulty.
*Styling aids are permitted in both the beard and moustache and competitors are encouraged to be as wild and imaginative as possible.
*Acceptable styling aids are limited to wax, hair spray, and other hair cosmetics. The use of hair extensions, fake hair, detached hair, or any form of hair pins or supporting elements is prohibited.