BY HANNAH FRISHBERG
Prepare your hair: A barbers convention is coming to Queens.
Barbercon, now in its third year, is an industry festival and gathering of barbers from around the world in the name of their shared craft. This year, Barbercon will be expanding to two days and will take place at Maspeth’s Knockdown Center, located at 52-19 Flushing Ave.
The past two years of the festival were held at Manhattan’s Webster Hall, which is currently closed for renovation.
“There is a culture surrounding the craft of barbering that has really grown over the past several years,” the festival’s founder, Lee Resnick, said in a press release, going on to emphasize Barbercon’s purpose as an “educational opportunity for aspiring barbers to learn from the best in the business.”
The festival was created as a real-time event to complement Barbershopconnect, a social site exclusively for barbers which was also launched by Resnick in 2016.
The hair-cutting convention won’t take place until this summer, on Sunday and Monday, June 10 and 11, 2018 from 3 to 10 p.m. Barbercon will feature live haircutting tutorials, product demonstrations and education classes across three stages; an indoor and outdoor Barbercon Marketplace; the Barbercon Awards; a barber-themed art gallery; food trucks; drinks; music; games; and a VIP lounge.
Previous Barbercons have had celebrity appearances, although organizers haven’t yet announced if there will be any notable cameos this year.
Interested barber and cosmetology industry vendors are encouraged to reach out to organizers at the Barbercon website.
Tickets run from $35 for a one-day pass to $180 for a two-day VIP package and are available for purchase online.
