Some far-out contestants in the ‘World Bodypainting Festival’ held in Austria.
 
So first of all yes, an event known as the “World Bodypainting Festival” is a real thing and has been since getting its start in Seeboden, Austria back in 1998. It’s still going strong today. Who knew?

Originally conceived to help draw tourists to the region during the summer months the fledgling event was the first of its kind in the world. Quickly rising in popularity by the early 2000s it was rebranded as the “World Bodypainting Festival” which draws tens of thousands of fans and professional body painters from over 40 locations around the globe to its new home in Pörtschach, Austria. Pörtschach is a dreamy place where you can observe the spectacle of beautiful people cavorting around with their (nearly) nude bodies covered in works of artistic expression that range from pop art and fantasy to other colorful concepts, which are particularly mind-blowing when you consider the canvasses they appear on.

The festival just celebrated its nineteenth anniversary and plans are already underway for the next year’s “20 Year Jubilee”. If this is your kind of thing (or if you’re just discovering that this is your kind of thing) tickets for the formal events that occur over a three-day period start at about $50 a pop. Tons of images from the festival follow, some of which are slightly NSFW.
 

An image of Andy Warhol (and I believe FLOTUS Michelle Obama) on a model at the ‘World Bodypainting Festival,’
 

 

Bodypainting by artist Daniel Pucher.
 

‘Pop art’ themed bodypainting from the ‘World Bodypainting Festival.’
 

 

 

 

2015.
 

 

 

 

2014.
 

 

 

 

Bodypainting by Ekaterina Kudrina for the ‘World Bodypainting Festival.’
 

Bodypainting by Karsten Skabal for the ‘World Bodypainting Festival.’
 

2014.
 

Bodypainting by Ferre Fabien for the ‘World Bodypainting Festival.’
 

Bodypainting by Abdul Halim Kulaksiz for the ‘World Bodypainting Festival.’
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Amazing album cover face paint