ASTORIA — Facial hair fans, get ready.
Astoria pub The Quays is hosting its first "Battle of the Beards" Tuesday night, pitting hirsute competitors against one another to see who boasts the neighborhood's winning whiskers.
The contest will be paired with live music, according to Adam Steiner of the local indie folk group The Green Gallows, who is helping plan the competition.
"Everybody grows these massive beards, it seems, these days in the winter," he said, saying the contest will let contestants show off their facial fuzz before they shave it off for the spring.
"We thought it would be a fun idea."
Anyone can join the competition, which is free to enter and will begin about 7 p.m. The audience will choose the winner, and contestants will be judged on not just the size of their beards but also their inventiveness, Steiner said.
Prizes will be doled out to the top three competitors and may include "grooming products, bar tabs and whiskey shots," he said.
The Green Gallows will perform, along with alt-country and Americana band The Homesick Hound Dogs and musician Robbie Cook.
Live music and The Battle of the Beards will kick off Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. at The Quays, 45-02 30th Ave. in Astoria.
