Barga, a town above the hills of Lucca, hosted the first annual “Spring Cleaning Festival” on April 19. The highlight was a collective beard trimming or, in most cases a total shaving so clean chins could emerge again after winter doldrums. Barbershop chairs were set up in piazza Salvo Salvi for the comfort of 10 local men — young. middle aged and old — who were shaved by five guest barbers from out of town to sounds of live music provided by a band.
The fest was the idea of Keane, the Irish resident editor of the Barga news site, who decided to pose the provocative question in his invitation to share what is also for him a yearly ritual, “could it be that the full face hipster beard is a thing of the past?”
To see a photo gallery, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.