Big Beard Bash

Bunyan Camp rolls out the barrel for facial hair soiree

Barbara Arnold |

A full, manly beard made of fiberglass.
A full, manly beard made of fiberglass.

Calling all beer lovers and beard lovers! Grab your beer mugs and ’stache wax to attend the first-ever Northwoods Beer’d Fest hosted by the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum in Carson Park on June 23. The event will feature live music, a “best beard” contest, local beer vendors, lawn games, chainsaw art demonstrations, wood-carving classes, and more. You must be 21 years old to attend, and tickets (which are available at paulbunyancamp.org for $12) include admission to the logging camp museum. Attendees will also be able to try their hand at a game of kubb, watch a live chainsaw carving demonstration with Dave Meyer, enjoy live music from a local band yet to be named, roast s’mores around a giant bonfire, carve their own apple, or sign-up for the “Best Beard Contest,” which will be judged by local “celebrities.” Food will be available for purchase from Wagner’s Lanes and The Complexx food truck, and beer tastings will be available from local craft brewers Lucette, Lazy Monk, and The Brewing Projekt. Beer’d Fest is the third in a series of four “After Dark” events, which offer non-traditional meet-ups for the 21-and-older crowd. After Dark is a collaboration among the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum, the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, and the Chippewa Valley Museum. Proceeds from these events benefit these organizations. 

After Dark: Northwoods Beer’d Fest • Friday, June 23 • 7-10pm • Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum, 1110 Half Moon Drive, Carson Park, Eau Claire • $12 • 21+ • (715) 835-6200 • paulbunyancamp.org