The first thing that hits you at the World Cheese Awards is the smell.

As the 37th edition - part competition, part a celebration of cheese - kicked off in Switzerland on Thursday, some visitors might wish the offerings had more holes. With descriptions of odors including "stinky socks” and "sick dog," it's clearly a festival - and a challenge - for the nose as much as mouths, fingers and eyes.

Welcome to sensory overload.

Connoisseurs, culinary experts and curious consumers flocked to the three-day event in a country where cheese is both food and folklore. The first day got going with the competition, which featured over 5,200 cheeses, nearly one-fifth from Switzerland. Some 46 countries took part, a record count of competitors from Australia to Austria, Bulgaria to Brazil.

All those offerings in the same Bern exhibition hall made for an original mΓ©lange of odors.

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