Each year at the Churer Fest, the Alpine Beard competition is held. It's a bit of an odd one as festivals go - and certainly one I've not heard of elsewhere!
Strict regulations apply to the beards, which have to be entirely natural, which are marked in a variety of categories by several judges.
To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of the Alpine Beard Festival - I've never seen one before. But some of the beards are as impressive as the costumes.
Painted building in the Chur old town
View of a building and façade of the Chur Cathedral
Duchess Andorra winning at White Turf riden by Colin Keane
Gallop race at White Turf on the frozen lake of St Moritz in the Swiss Alps
Gallop racing at White Turf on Lake St Moritz
A gallops jockey at White Turf at St Moritz
Skijöring at White Turf on the frozen lake of St Moritz in the Swiss Alps
Trotting race at the St Moritz White Turf event 2013
Chur - Cathedral - View of a building and façade of the Chur Cathedral
Sargans - Parish Church of St Oswald and St Cassian - Parish Church of St Oswald and St Cassian, Sargans, Canton St Gallen, Switzerland
A day trip to Glarus for extraordinary Open-Air Parliament - Notes from a day trip to Glarus for ausserordentliche Landsgemeinde (extraordinary Open-Air Parliament)
Switzerland - festivals not to miss - Fantastic Swiss festivals to visit through the year
Austria - recommended places to stay - Recommended hotels in Vienna, Salzburg and Bregenz
Salzburg / Bregenz - accomodation summary - Comments on our hotels during a trip to Bregenz and Salzburg
St Moritz - 2013 White Turf - Pictures from the middle weekend of the 2013 White Turf event at St Moritz
White Turf - Colin Keane rides Duchess Andorra to victory - Duchess Andorra winning at White Turf riden by Colin Keane
St Moritz - Gallops at White Turf - Gallop race at White Turf on the frozen lake of St Moritz in the Swiss Alps
St Moritz - gallops at White Turf - Gallop racing at White Turf on Lake St Moritz
Chur Tourism - Official website of Chur Tourismus
Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook