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The opening weekend of the Ely Winter Festival included the return of a popular event.
After a two-year hiatus, the Great Nordic Beardfest returned and was held over two nights - both at Ely’s Historic State Theater.
About 160 people turned out for Saturday night’s main event, while a smaller crowd witnessed the Friday Night Throwdown and Battle for the Belts.
“It was a success by my metrics,” said Shaun Chosa, founder and organizer of the event. “I thought we had a good turnout Friday and a way better turnout Saturday. It was the first time we did two nights at the State Theater.”
Held on and off over the last decade or so, the Beardfest made its comeback this year and attracted 55 participants - 20 on the opening evening and 35 for Saturday’s competition which included an array of categories.
Participants came from Ely, the surrounding area and even as far as New York, Orange County California and even England.
“We have a trophy called the traveler and it went to a guy who came from New York, but it turned out one of the participants was one of the snow carvers who was here from the United Kingdom,” said Chosa.
The Friday Night Throwdown was decided by audience applause and Tower’s Jason Carlson went home with the Beard Belt. Danielle Lindquist of Soudan won the Mustache Belt while Ely’s own Kenzie Cannon captured the Bearded Lady Belt.
Saturday’s competition was decided by judges and winners were crowned in an array of divisions along with some specialty awards.
Winners were:
• Mustache - 1. Daniel Lindquist; 2. Black Riorden; 3. Seth Trotter;
• Partial Beard - 1. Eric “Tergils” Mord; 2. Steven Bell; 3. Tyler Williamson; • Freestyle - 1. Jason Schaffer; 2. Norman Williamson; 3. Martin Sharp;
• Bearded Ladies - 1. Kenzie Cannon; 2. Heaven Heard; 3. Sarah Haga;
• Full Beard Natural 6-minus - 1. Tim Cooper; 2. Tim Stouffer; 3. Peter Hardin;
• Full Beard Natural 6-plus - 1. Steve Yatoske; 2. Derek Chever; 3. Sam J. Klanerud;
• Best Beard in Town Steve Yatoske;
• Best Mustache in Town - Daniel Lindquist;
• Best in Show - Heaven Heard;
• Best Costume - Eric “Tergils” Mord;
• Greybeard - John Lindquist; • Traveler - Peter Hardin, New York;
• Ladies Choice - Sam J. Klanerud;
• Gentlemen’s Choice Norman Williamson;
• The One Ring - Tim Cooper; The event included live music as well as a charity component, with participants and spectators donating funds to Contented Critters.
“We were able to raise $600 for Contented Critters, which is by far most we have raised for a charity in the 10 years or so we’ve been doing this,” said Chosa.
Chosa said spectators spanned multiple generations and were about a 50-50 split between those who had witnessed previous Beardfests and those coming for the first time.
“We had a good dose of the Millenial crowd and a few old Ely,” said Chosa.
The audience had some fun, playing kazoos that were distributed at the event and even belting out the theme from the TV classic Gilligan’s Island.
They also weighed in on last weekend’s Super Bowl.
“We asked who were Chiefs fans and about a quarter of the audience responded and for the Eagles it was about the same thing,” said Chosa. “Then we asked who are broken hearted Vikings fans and the crowd erupted. It was sort of sad and ironic but funny.”
While Chosa has taken some breaks with the Beardfest, current plans call for the event to take place in 2026 - again during the opening weekend of the winter celebration.
Plans include a potential expansion to Thursday night involving area taverns.
“We’re planning on it (a 2026 Beardfest) and already put out the first advance warning,” said Chosa. “If we do the expansion it would be something that would happen on Thursday night.”
