A 'fart competition' held on Sunday in Gujarat's Surat, touted as the country's first, turned out to be a lot of hot air, though not literally, as only three participants managed to overcome shyness and inhibitions to take a shot at the three trophies on offer.

They too, however, failed to pass muster after being unable to pass wind, an organiser said.

While sixty people had registered to display their prowess in letting out "longest", "loudest" and "most musical" farts at a banquet hall in Vesu area, only twenty turned up on Sunday, said organiser Yatin Sangoi.

Of these, only three took to the stage, in front of 70 people in attendance along with a few media channels, and ended up failing to "perform", said Sangoi.

None of the three trophies were distributed, he said, though the participants were given gift hampers for turning up.

"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, Sangoi said he planned 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.