Whiskers take center stage at fair
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Laughter and cheers erupted Sunday afternoon as contestants with everything from curled handlebars to flowing beards lined up for the Whidbey Island Fair’s first-ever Best Mustache Contest.
Spectators had the final say, determining the winners in two categories — best mustache and best overall facial hair — with the volume of their applause.
Maverick Zimmer took home the prize for best mustache. He looked as though he had stepped straight out of the Old West. Wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, long silver hair and a sweeping white mustache, he was hard to miss among the contestants.
Zimmer said he makes sure to keep his mustache trimmed, as his facial hair can otherwise reach up to his temples.
“It gets pretty bushy and big,” he said. “I’ve always had a big broom, and I’m a biker so I like having the brush.”
The crowd rewarded the rugged look with one of the afternoon’s loudest rounds of applause.
But Zimmer still faced some stiff competition, as there was a close three-way tie for best mustache before he ultimately emerged as the winner. One of the challengers was the contest’s only female competitor, who drew laughs by entering with a tiny mustache tattoo on the side of her finger. Holding it beneath her nose, she earned enough applause to finish among the finalists.
Another finalist was Nikolai Lyngra, whose carefully groomed handlebar mustache curled elegantly past the corners of his smile. His waxed whiskers drew admiring looks from the audience before he explained why the mustache means so much to him.
“I feel like my mustache is maybe the mustache in the purest form,” Lyngra said. “I don’t have any other hair on my face or head, so my mustache is my statement. It is my identity.”
As for the best overall facial hair, Chad Clay was easily crowned the winner for his beard and mustache combo. Clay explained his wife won’t allow him to shave his facial hair.
“She says I look like my mom without it,” he said.
Judging by the turnout and enthusiastic applause, the Whidbey Island Fair may have found a new annual tradition.
