Live haircutting competitions take center stage at Sydney's Hair festival
At the Hair festival in Sydney's ICC exhibition centre in late June, industry professionals gathered for a unique event where haircutting becomes a spectator sport. The festival, now in its fifth year, features live competitions where hairdressers, barbers, and stylists showcase their skills under time pressure.
Approximately 30 competitors and their models participated in three events simultaneously: the barber competition, emerging talent barber, and women's cutting competition. Competitors had 30 minutes to deliver technically proficient haircuts, with the only rule being they must cut at least 1.5cm of hair.
Judging criteria and competitor experiences
Judges assessed creativity, trendiness, and suitability to the model. The overall winner accumulated the greatest number of points across events. Newcomer Jeremy Stott, a barber for only eight months, competed for the first time with an anime-inspired look. Stott, a former engineer who suffered a serious motorcycle accident two years ago, broke his neck, back, leg, and both wrists, leading him to pursue barbering.
“He’s got really, really nice hair that’s super thick, so I was a bit panicked about the time,” says Stott. “My hands got crazy shaky towards the end … But I think we did all right.”
Braiding competition and diversity concerns
On the other side of the convention centre, the braiding competition required 13 braiders to complete four box braids on one model in an hour. Lea Avery, a 12-year braiding veteran, noted the lack of diversity: only two afro hair stalls out of 150. “I don’t care about winning, I’m just happy I showed up and gave it a go,” says Avery. She hopes to have her own stall to highlight the afro and Polynesian hair community.
Winners announced
Despite a delay in announcing winners, Stott took home first place in the barber styling competition and was named 2026 overall barber champion. “I was hoping for maybe, at best, third place,” says Stott. “I’m just happy that I have that [the award] to prove to myself.”
Joanne Cowan, national sales director at Intermedia group, which runs the event, highlights the appeal: “People love the opportunity to do something live. There’s no photoshopping, there’s no AI … it’s pure hair creativity.”
