What The Fart: India holds first ever farting contest in Surat

The World's Best Fart Championship, also known as What The Fart, was held in Surat, Gujarat, India on September 22, 2019: The competition is the idea of 48-year-old singer Yatin Sangoi and partner Mul Sanghvi.

"I farted in the middle of watching a movie with my family and one of them laughed, and said that if there was a contest, I would've won," Sangoi told the media.

"I want to normalise the process of farting. Even 20-25 years back, people used to fart openly, but now they've become all sophisticated and consider it gross, often shamed for farting publicly, when even doctors will tell you that farting is one of the healthiest human body functions."

Yatin has some top tips for competitors hoping to be India's best 'fartist'.

He recommends eating lots of beans, raw radishes and boiled potatoes to generate plenty of fart power.

Farting is the release of intestinal gas which forms when our body digests food we've eaten.

They're also caused by air we swallow when we're eating. This travels through our digestive systems and ends up as -you guessed it- farts!

The event:

The competition was held to find India's best "fartist" in the categories of "longest", "loudest", and "most musical" farts. The event was organized by Yatin Sangoi and Mul Sanghvi, and featured a panel of judges including a doctor, stand-up comedian Devang Raval, and preschool teacher Kavita Parmar.

The participants:

60 people registered for the event, but only 20 showed up, and only three attempted to compete.

The outcome:

The competition was a failure, as none of the participants were able to pass gas. Some participants were shy, while others decided not to compete.

The organizer's goals:

Sangoi's goal was to provide a platform for people to pass gas freely, as he believed that society frowns upon farting.

He also wanted to change the idea that farting is something to be ashamed of.

"The participants were reluctant to go on stage as they were possibly shy and had inhibitions due to the presence of news channels, photographers, people etc. We had even roped in a firm to build a special device to measure the fart parameters," he said.

Unfazed by the failure of the event, Sangoi said he plans to hold the competition next in Mumbai, complete with chambers to allow participants to pass wind without the glare of the audience.

He identified the three "fartists" who took the stage on Sunday as Sushil Jain of Bardoli, Alkesh Pandya of Patan and Vishnu Heda of Surat.

Ref: What The Fart: India holds first ever farting contest in Surat (bbc)