December 6, 2023 at 1:00 a.m. EST
A younger boy wears a vegemite T-shirt on the Mulletfest 2023 Grand Remaining at Hebburn Motorsport Park, Kurri Kurri, Australia. (Matthew Abbott for The Washington Submit)
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KURRI KURRI, Australia — Leah Jachmann watched anxiously as her son lined up onstage subsequent to the opposite contestants. Jedrik was solely 7 years previous, however he’d spent most of his life getting ready for this second. An emcee handed him a microphone, and the boy quietly launched himself.
Jedrik turned to the facet, revealing 18 inches of wavy locks that tumbled from the again of his head like a lightweight brown waterfall. The awestruck emcee requested what his secret was.
“Mullet juice!” Jedrik’s mom shouted from the viewers. “Do-it-yourself mullet juice. Rainwater, conditioner and coconut oil.”
As the gang cheered, Jedrik spun and shook his mane as if he have been in a shampoo business.
Welcome to Mulletfest, the place Australia lets its hair down — and wholeheartedly embraces its bogan, or redneck, facet.
Australians, some too younger to stroll, competed in Mulletfest’s grand ultimate this previous weekend throughout a spread of classes, together with “excessive,” “grubby,” “on a regular basis” and “ranga,” a derogatory Aussie nickname for a redhead.
The mullet — brief on the edges, lengthy within the again — will not be an Australian invention. The traditional Greeks have been mentioned to be a fan of the ‘do, as was singer Billy Ray Cyrus and, extra just lately, Joe Unique of “Tiger King.” The Beastie Boys arguably popularized the time period in 1994 with their tune “Mullet Head.”
However no society has embraced the mullet fairly like Australia, the place the minimize loved cult standing within the Eighties. It made a comeback through the covid-19 pandemic, when Australians endured a number of the world’s most restrictive lockdowns. The coiffure, usually dubbed “enterprise within the entrance, social gathering within the again,” was excellent for DIY cuts and countless Zoom calls.
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With its edgy vibe, the mullet additionally suited what appeared like an apocalyptic second. What higher haircut for the Finish Occasions than the one sported by Mel Gibson’s Mad Max?
A brand new era of Australian sports activities stars with the model has solely added to the cachet.
Right here, the mullet isn’t only a coiffure. It’s a life-style.
“It means you’re an easygoing bloke,” mentioned Benny Hill, a Mulletfest contestant whose graying locks had been shorn into two mohawks and a foot-long mop within the again. “If a fella with a mullet tells you he doesn’t care about one thing, you’ll be able to 100% assure he doesn’t.”
Mullets are sometimes related to larrikins, an Australian phrase for a lovable rogue that started with nineteenth century gangsters who gave themselves ostentatious haircuts. It has since taken on a lifetime of its personal.
“It’s obtained this macho feeling to it,” mentioned Ailsa Weaver, a trend knowledgeable on the College of Know-how Sydney. “This stridently, unapologetically Australian, cut-the-apron-ties-to-Britain perspective.”
The mullet can be sensible, Hill mentioned.
“With all this scorching Aussie solar, you don’t have to fret about placing sunscreen on the again of your neck,” added the 41-year-old, who goes by the nickname “Keg.”
When Laura Johnson was coaching to be a hairdresser within the Nineties, she was informed to speak individuals out of getting mullets.
However six years in the past, she and her husband have been puzzling over methods to avoid wasting the pub they’d purchased within the small city of Kurri Kurri, north of Sydney, the place the native aluminum smelter had shut down. A good friend requested whether or not males within the city, inhabitants 6,000, in contrast their mullets. And an thought was born.
In 2018, Johnson held the primary Mulletfest, with 100 contestants.
“Folks have been actually strolling previous one another and saying, ‘Oh my god, that’s a totally thick mullet, can I purchase you a beer,’” she mentioned.
Companies loved their busiest day of the 12 months, and the city council obtained on board.
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The mullet — and Mulletfest — has outlasted the pandemic. In 2021, the competition, which raises cash for mind most cancers analysis, moved from the pub to a extra covid-resistant location, a former coal mine a number of miles from city.
The brand new spot has one other benefit: house for burnouts. On Saturday, mullet-clad youngsters climbed trash bins and metallic fences to get look as muscle vehicles shredded their tires.
The grand ultimate was the fruits of native mullet competitions across the nation. Amid the acrid tire smoke and rock music, Lynne Fry walked round with satisfaction.
The 63-year-old had sported a mullet since she was 10. For years, she’d needed to pull it again right into a ponytail whereas working authorities jobs. Then she noticed the inaugural Mulletfest winner on TV and determined to enter. The following 12 months, her three-foot grey mane earned her the “excessive” award.
“It was so good to see individuals from each stroll of life with the identical haircut,” she mentioned. “I’m accepted and never regarded down upon due to my mullet.”
Johnson mentioned her competition had helped popularize the haircut and, extra importantly, destigmatize it. “5 years in the past once we began, mullets have been so polarizing, you both cherished them or hated them,” she mentioned. “Now, I believe we’re kind of getting previous that.”
That doesn’t imply that each one mullets are equal, nonetheless.
This 12 months, Fry served as one in every of Mulletfest’s three judges, evaluating the situation, minimize and stage presence.
There have been mullets a number of inches lengthy and others right down to their house owners’ waists. Some have been peroxide blond, others neon purple or inexperienced. There have been child mullets and balding mullets.
“In one other couple of years, it’ll be a skullet,” quipped one older contestant as he ruffled his receding white locks for the judges.
There was a “rookie” class for adults who had solely had the hair model for 2 years or much less; “classic” for individuals 50 years or older; and “excessive,” for the boldest of appears.
Hadrien Le Roy, whose glam rocklike ginger mane gained him the “ranga” class, didn’t appear to take offense on the pejorative label. The Frenchman, wearing a leopard-print swimsuit, mentioned he’d determined to don a mullet after getting his Australian citizenship — and after getting drunk. His coiffure horrified some buddies again in France however hardly raised an eyebrow in Australia.
“It’s simply one other day Down Beneath,” he mentioned.
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The “grungy” class had just one individual present up, who nonetheless stripped right down to his beer-branded “budgie smugglers,” or speedos, in celebration.
“I like getting bare, and I’ve a mullet,” defined 24-year-old Shaun Jackson with a shrug.
Different classes have been extra contested. A lot of them have been stuffed with mullets that had already gained native heats held throughout the nation. The “rookie” title went to a midwife named Lisa Wright who had gained a web-based competitors and introduced a 40-person entourage in matching T-shirts.
Hill, who gained the “excessive” class final 12 months, misplaced his crown to a man with a beer brand shaved into the facet of his head.
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Maybe the hardest contest was for the very best “on a regular basis” mullet, which had drawn die-hard mulleteers from throughout the nation, together with one who had slept in a park gazebo on the journey.
The crown went to Mitch White, a welder who had by no means had one other coiffure. The 25-year-old had grown up in a small city getting his sides shaved by his father, Bevan. After Mitch moved away, haircuts grew to become a uncommon alternative to catch up.
Final 12 months, his dad gained the classic class, however Mitch had gone house empty-handed. This time, Mitch not solely gained, he additionally took house the competition’s prime prize: “Greatest Total Mullet.”
Father and son grew teary as they embraced, however not earlier than Mitch chugged a beer out of his picket trophy.
“Good on ya’ mate!” mentioned Jachmann, whose son Jedrik had gained his personal silverware. “You and your dad have gotten wonderful poodle mullets.”
“Thanks,” Mitch mentioned, shaking the beer out of his curls. “The apple doesn’t fall removed from the tree.”