Something is happening in Lithuania. Every year, girls and women of every age gather in a large arena to have their hair measured. Known locally as the Konkursas Pasaulio Ilgaplaukės, the world’s longest hair festival has been running annually in Lithuania for decades, drawing participants from far and wide. The festival has its roots in Lithuania’s strong folkloric tradition, where long hair often conveys ideas around strength and vitality.

Having been intrigued by the festival for many years, photographer Francesca Allen finally made the pilgrimage to Lithuania to document the festival. The resulting images – which are both a vivid record of a thriving folkloric ritual and a somewhat surreal photo series – are collected under the title Plaukai, the Lithuanian word for hair. The pictures will be displayed in an exhibition in London in June and a photo book, designed by Adam Ridgeway and featuring text by writer Frankie Dunn, will receive a limited edition run.

In the run up to the exhibition, we caught up with Allen to discuss her images, to learn more about the hair festival and to hear about its strange “ritualistic” finale.

Barry Pierce: Where did you first hear about this festival?
Francesca Allen: I wanted to photograph this contest for years. As most photographers my age, I grew up on Flickr and Tumblr, and a lot of my reference points and community originated from that. There was a photo floating around of a Lithuanian long hair contest, from 1992. I stored that image in the back of my head for as long as I can remember and started lightly researching it in 2018. I kept putting off going; the pandemic happened, it never seemed like the right time. I have a very good friend who is Lithuanian and this year I decided to bite the bullet and go and see what it was all about, taking Karolina with me. I’m hoping this is the start of a long term project exploring this contest and other long hair traditions in Lithuania.

“I hope everybody grows their hair!!!”

BP: What was it about this festival of long hair that drew you across Europe to capture it?
FA: I was really attracted to the visuals of it. Hair is such a beautiful thing to capture in and of itself, and there are such personal ties between the contestants and their hair. The pictures ended up being as much about the people as the competition.

BP: Why does this festival happen at all, and why specifically in Lithuania?
FA: Many of the contestants were excited to tell me about Lithuania’s history of witches, and the belief that women with long hair had magical powers. This folkloric backdrop really stood out, especially when you saw how cross-generational the tradition of long hair is. Mothers and daughters were all taking part together.

BP: How did you want to capture the festival and those taking part?
FA: The competitors display not only the length of their hair, but their commitment and care that goes into growing it, Lithuania’s history and culture, as well as their own connection to girlhood and a sense of coming of age.

BP: You mention a “ritualistic finale”… what exactly happens?
FA: The finale involved all of the participants gathering on the stage, turning around and shaking their hair at the audience. This seemed to be something everybody was prepared for and  knew exactly what to do; they had been waiting for this moment. The scene was hypnotic, and it was honestly just very beautiful to watch.

“Many of the contestants were excited to tell me about Lithuania’s history of witches, and the belief that women with long hair had magical powers.”

BP: How does Plaukai fit into your overall body of work so far?
FA: It feels like a very natural progression for me, and opens up lots of new ideas. I would love to take this more spontaneous, documentary approach to future projects. The work pulled together so many elements of the day itself, the girls and women behind the competition and their own connection to the history and culture of this tradition, but it also opened up so many more questions, which I think this documentary-style lends itself well to.

Hair is so deeply tied to identity. It’s an expression of who you are. It influences how we are perceived by others; how professional we are, our gender identity, our religion and culture. I think this idea of girlhood being tied to so many of our interpersonal connections has been a focus of my work so far, and this more explicit exploration just felt like the next step.

BP: What do you hope viewers take away from Plaukai?
FA: I hope everybody grows their hair!!!

Plaukai will be exhibited at Allotment, Unit 8, Ability Plaza, Arbutus Street, E8 4DT from June 18th to 25th, visits by appointment only via info@francesca-allen.co.uk.
The Private View & Publication Launch takes place on Wednesday 18th June, 18:00-21:00.