On a recent Saturday in central Copenhagen, an outdoor stage became the epicenter of Denmark's most unconventional hair contest: the 2026 Mullet Championship. Twelve competitors, each sporting the distinctive short-in-front, long-in-back cut, vied for the title of most powerful mullet before a crowd of over a thousand spectators.
The mullet, once dismissed by Vogue as "history's most divisive hairstyle," has seen a global resurgence since the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdown-weary citizens let their locks grow. British magazine i-D declared 2020 "the year of the mullet," and the trend has persisted. In Europe, the revival has been particularly visible, with Belgium hosting the European Mullet Cup last month.
A Danish Origin Story
Organizer Steffen Stiw Weber, a 37-year-old electrician, launched the championship four years ago after a personal hair journey. Following a hair transplant, Weber chose to grow out a mullet. When he discovered he couldn't compete in a US-based mullet competition because he wasn't an American citizen, he decided to start his own in Denmark.
"I think in our culture, when everything must be perfect on social media and everything like that, I think that's why people have to stand out from the crowd," Weber explained, reflecting on the mullet's renewed popularity.
Judges evaluated contestants on style, uniqueness, overall performance, and "mullet moves." Judge Bobby Agren described his criteria: "I like the finesse, the twist, the nostalgia. I like it if it looks ridiculous or maybe ugly in a beautiful way." Each competitor had 60 seconds on stage to showcase their cut, after which judges held up scorecards to award points.
The winner, 43-year-old construction worker Thomas Berg, clinched the top prize with a performance that involved frantically jumping on a trampoline while clad in neon green gym wear, his mullet completed with an orange headband. "I think it's just funny. It's just a big party," Berg said after collecting his prize. "It's just nice to be a bit outside the box."
The championship is part of a broader European trend of mullet competitions, reflecting the continent's embrace of the hairstyle's quirky charm. While Denmark's event remains a local affair, it draws on a global phenomenon that has found fertile ground in Europe's diverse cultural landscape.
For those interested in other Danish cultural events, the country has seen its share of notable happenings, from the towing of a decomposing humpback whale to the health updates of former Queen Margrethe. But on this Saturday, the focus was squarely on the mullet, a hairstyle that continues to defy expectations and bring people together in celebration of individuality.
