The Best Photos From Bilbao’s Annual ‘Ugly Face Contest’

Normally ugliness is relative and objective, but not if you’re at one of the stranger events taking place during the Basque city of Bilbao’s annual cultural festival Aste Nagusia or ‘Big Week’. Somewhere in between the comparatively commonplace displays of music, art, fireworks and bullfights taking place over the nine-day celebration falls the bewildering Concurso de Feos, which literally translates to ‘The Ugly Competition’.

Concurso de Feos was apparently initiated as a spin on the controversial and outdated beauty pageant. Though it is also a great alternative for those not endowed with the skills required to perform the spectacular facial feat known as a gurn (perhaps due to still having at least six teeth) but who continue to dream of having their ugliest mug immortalised on the Internet. The Spanish competition apparently encourages the use of fingers to assist with the distorting process, with entrants stuffing digits into their nostrils, eyeballs and inner cheeks in their quest to perform the most unsightly sneer in all the land.

There appears to be no age restrictions on competing, with the event popular amongst both old and young alike. And, obligatory jokes aside, Concurso de Feos can claim the dual merits of providing locals with a comical distraction from the Basque County’s economic woes and the rest of the world with a good boost of self-confidence.

via Geekologie