World Body Painting Festival 2012 - My Trip To Austria...

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This year I was lucky enough to attend the World Body Painting Festival in Austria with my boyfriend, courtesy of Papa Bad Habit! I was mega excited since I've wanted to attend since I first heard of the festival about five years ago, so it was a bit of a dream come true - I could hardly believe I was actually going until we were on the flight!


 So, what is the World Body Painting Festival? Well, each year body painters of all 'classes' (amateur, pro, airbrush, brush and sponge, sfx etc), from all over the world gather together and compete for awards. Folk can also attend just want to admire all of the beautiful art, learn a thing or two, build contacts, listen to music, drink, dance....Each year, the festival grows bigger, with people from all over the globe coming to compete or simply enjoy all of the wonderful sights surrounding them.

I'm putting all of my own pictures under the cut, since some may consider boobs and bums NSFW (even if they are painted...)


Each day, nothing really happens in the morning/ afternoon unless you have a class to go to. There are DJs to keep the crowds entertained, a big bar to keep them happy and food stands to keep them full of sausage and saurkraut.  However, it was nice just to walk around the grounds and stare into the crystal clear lake, watching people on speed boats zip around.


 Portschach was paradise! Each day got to around 30 degrees, which is roasting for two people from Northern England! The tents in the picture above are some of the festival stalls - we could see them from where we were staying, a good few miles away. 

Some artists working on a model for one of the brush and sponge contests and the Kryolan staff applying LOADS of glitter to a model at their stall. Kryolan were actually one of the festival sponsors, though Snazaroo and a couple other well known body paint manufactureres had stalls. There were also pre-made prosthetics for sale, airbrush machines, traditional make-up, brushes, falsies...everything you could need as a MUA/ make-up fan available! I didn't pick anything up as I was scared about getting it back in my hand luggage :/

I loved all of the airbrush entries I saw! I think it's a common misconception that airbrush make-up is easy - I mean, just look at the skills these folk have!
 
Most of the above are images from pretty bizarre fashion/ body paint show that happened one evening. The outfits were quite varied - some wild and bold, some intricate and soft. Sorry that the night time pics aren't the best - I don't have a zoom lens and my f stop goes to 4.5 max, hence the noise.

 This model had springy 'spider legs' coming from her back.

I utterly LOVED this entry (for the SFX category, I think...). It's a huge skill to use so much colour effectively in body painting without it looking messy.

 After the last show on the first night, we were wandering around just taking in the atmosphere when we discovered Austria's SFX entry with a heap of photographers. We watched them posing for a bit, then managed to sneak in and take a few shots ourselves (trying to steal the flash from people's fancy cameras!)

Entries for the fluro awards. UV is SO HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH. There were heaps of really cool entries, but seriously...try taking a picture of something UV moving quickly in the dark, it's a challenge! It would have been amazing to be in the photography pit to capture these entries!

 Conchita Wurst, apparently a celebrity in Austria, sang after the final awards were announced on the very last night! Isn't her beard fierce?

We watched fireworks go off over the lake, cheering, dancing, finishing off 'Apfel Wein'...

Then we walked back to the hotel, saying how much we love a good finale to something spectacular!

Would I recommend going to the World Body Painting Festival? Absolutely! The whole body painting community is really open, relaxed and friendly, you can learn lots of new techniques, gain inspiration, meet some fascinating people and just generally have an amazing time! I'd love to go again, with a photography/ press pass and a ridiculously large zoom lens...

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