BUSAN ― AD Stars 2011, an international advertising festival, kicked off its three-day event on Thursday in this southeastern port city of Busan.

The event, which celebrates the fourth anniversary this year, was the world’s first on-offline convergence advertising festival.

Some 700 advertising industry people and other special guests such as Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik and Graham Kelly, consultant of Ogilvy One India who is also one of the final judges, attended the opening ceremony held at the Busan Haeundae Grand Hotel.

The Busan event this year is the largest one in history in terms of the number of applicants, the organizing committee said, with a total of 7,130 advertising works from 46 countries submitted.

The participation of countries other than Asia was especially active, the organizing committee said, with countries such as Qatar, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Egypt and Slovenia newly joining the event this year.

The applicants had to undergo a rigorous preliminary evaluation by 105 judges under the leadership of Neil French, Asia’s advertising guru who served the worldwide creative director of WPP Group.

And 1,267 works finally selected would compete during the festival for the $10,000 grand prize in the product and public service categories.

Special lectures of renowned speakers here and abroad will be offered during the three-day festival to introduce the latest trends in the global advertising industry under the theme “the Future of Advertising.”

Meanwhile, “Young Stars AD Competition 2011” has invited college students from around the world to join the event. Thirty-seven teams consisting 136 students from 36 schools will participate in a special exhibition during the festival.

Other than the official events, cultural events for ordinary citizens also will be held on the beach near the exhibition venue. During the “Beach Ad Night,” creative advertising films will be screened along with stage concerts by artists.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)