
Participants in the Festival du Voyageur's 2010 Beard Growing Contest take part in the final round of judging at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre. (JENNAMIDGET / FLICKR)
Festival du Voyageur is 85 days away, but plans are well underway to make sure its 43rd edition runs smoothly.
The always popular Beard Growing Contest is back for another year, raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba. Participants can enter one of three categories: Festival Beard (clean shaven), Voyageur Beard (wild and wooly) and the Novelty category (groomed beard and/or mustache). Registration is $35, or free if a contestant raises more than $100 in pledges. For the Festival Beard category, the registration event will take place December 15 at Garage Café, 166 Provencher Boulevard, between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m and is open to the public. Participants must be clean shaven prior to registration. The contestants will then grow a beard for 10 weeks.
Festival du Voyageur will run February 17 to 26, 2012. Further details, including which musical acts will be appearing, can be found at FestivalVoyageur.mb.ca.