The artists compete in three categories: brush and sponge, airbrush, and special effects. At night time there is also a special UV effects contest.
The World Bodypainting Festival is the biggest annual event of the body painting culture and community. The festival is the first of its kind in the world and has become the "Mecca of Bodypainting". It draws over a hundred artists and models, and thousands of visitors, from all over the world every year.
The festival began in Austria in 1996. Twelve years later, South Korea held its own festival in Daegu.