France holds first beard Championship in Paris (Photos/Video)

Over the weekend, men sporting hipster moustaches and Verdi beards gathered in Paris for the first French Beard Championship, a national competition where 30 finalists in five categories faced off for the title of best beard.

The finalists were previously put forward by a grand jury and paraded on a catwalk. Their beards were then judged by a jury made up of five people.

Richard Palatchi, who has grown his beard out for three and a half years, won the audacious beard category, beating three other men in a free-style facial hair category. He said the only preparation he made was to get a quick trim at a barber shop on Saturday morning.

Julien Voeltzel won in the natural and over 20cm-long beard category, while Javor Mujicic won the Garibaldi beard category.

Denis Pierre Cariou was crowned the Best in Show category, while Yohann Caton won the Verdi Beard category.

200 spectators were present at the championship, a surprisingly large turnout according to the organisers who hope to expand the competition next year.

See the video below: