Latest news with #Nudefest
BBC News
19 hours ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Somerset in Pictures: Heatwaves and naturists
Temperatures have risen to 31C across Somerset this week as the county experiences another people have been out soaking up the rays and we have had some stunning sunny scenes for you. Here comes the sun: It has been a scorcher of a week, so some weather watches have been heading out later to enjoy the cooler temperatures and witness the setting sun's golden light. This photograph was taken at Burnham-on-Sea's harbour. Daredevils: Kitesurfers have been making the most of the good weather and taking to the water in Weston-super-Mare. Cricket celebration: The popular Vitality Blast Women cricket match between Somerset and Essex at The Cooper Associates County Ground took place on 8 July. There were lots of celebrations as Somerset took the trophy. Naturism for Nudefest: Hundreds of people have descended on Thorney Lakes in Langport for one of the biggest events in the naturism calendar. From a volleyball tournament, to a performance from the Wurzels - they won't be leaving any tan lines. A wheely nice view: There was also an orange "buck moon" on Wednesday when it appears bigger because it is near the horizon. The above photograph was taken in Weston-super-Mare by one of our weather watchers. Putting down roots: Queen Camilla handed out seeds and cuttings from her garden during a day of visiting charitable organisations. Here, she is seen at Shockerwick Farm, near Bath, which runs a centre for children struggling with social exclusion. From Somerset to Wimbledon: Karen Dehalu, from Crewkerne, is part of the team which is behind keeping Wimbledon in bloom during the tournament. The event brings in more than 20,000 flowers for 'living walls', bedding displays and containers.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hundreds descend on Langport for Nudefest 2025
Hundreds of people have descended on a campsite for what has been billed as a "normal festival" - just one where everyone is naked. Thorney Lakes in Langport, Somerset, has once again become home to Nudefest - a week-long event that sits at the centre of the British Naturism calendar. From a performance by The Wurzels to a volleyball tournament and a cider farm tour, the event attracts hundreds of people from across the UK each year."In the evening we've got a silent disco, bands playing and karaoke - it's a normal festival but we're not wearing clothes," said Sue May, 50, from Hampshire who has been attending the festival since 2018. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, everybody gets on - you don't find an angry naturist," she said," Ms May added. "It's a place you can be yourself." Speaking from the festival site she told the BBC: "If people saw what I'm looking at here, there's just people wandering around, they're chatting, there's nothing seedy about it."As a volunteer with Women in Naturism, helping women find the confidence to explore the community, she said she believed interest in the lifestyle had "definitely grown" since Covid. University of Sheffield student Saoirse Newhouse, 21, told the BBC she was attending the festival for the first time as part of the organising team, carrying out duties from setting up sports games to filming social media content. Describing the "friendly" atmosphere at the festival, she said: "Obviously when you do something that isn't societally considered the norm you generally have to be quite open minded.""There's always something going on, some sort of activity, so you can always get involved with that and talk to more people," she added. She also encouraged other women like her to get involved with naturism, despite persistent stereotypes about the community mostly consisting of older men. "There is a bit of a gender skew," she said - but added: "I, and a lot of other women I've spoken to, [say] you feel more respected as a human here."I've never at any of these festivals had someone staring at my breasts or anything inappropriate like that - I've had it more commonly in the outside world," she said - adding that she felt more protected at a naturist event than she did at a pub or club. She described the "strict stance" taken by British Naturism on harassment, which she felt encourages more people to attend "because they know their security is really respected". "People do assume that if you're wearing no clothes you must get unwanted attention but obviously when we look at statistics we realise that what a woman is wearing doesn't determine if she's going to be harassed or assaulted," she added. "It's completely on the perpetrator." Another attendee, 64-year-old Dave Bygrave from North Yorkshire, told the BBC there was "just a really nice and friendly atmosphere" at the festival. "It's fantastic to be in this place where you can just wander around, get food, hear the music, have a drink and talk to people without ever having to get dressed," he many in the community, he said, he and his wife had long been interested in the lifestyle but had been able to go to far more events following their retirement. "The difference between packing to come to Nudefest versus packing for any other holiday is comical really - a couple of t-shirts and some spare underwear for the journey home and that's about it," he joked.
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Buttoned-up Britons are finally embracing the nudist beach
Last week naturists got their knickers in a twist – the ones wearing any, that is. A parish council erected a signpost that outlawed nudity at Cotton Beach near Lowestoft. 'Lewd behaviour will not be tolerated,' warned the parish prudes. It turns out the council ban was a storm in a D-cup. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, bathing in your birthday suit is a harmless and completely legal pursuit. Enjoying nature au naturel is growing in popularity too. British Naturism spokesman Andrew Welch puts 'the huge amount of acceptance today' down to a desire to celebrate real bodies in a digitally perfect world. 'Our assessment is that if more people got to know what a real human being looked like, there'd be fewer body confidence issues, which can even lead to suicide.' According to an Ipsos poll, around 39 per cent of Brits have enjoyed some form of public nudity. It helps that British Naturism has promoted the pastime without the strident willy-waving of some charities. The organisation invites all-comers to its naked rambles, bare-all boat trips and Nudefest, a week-long festival with music. In fact, this news story is a century old. In 1929 Charles Macaskie opened a nude resort in virgin Hertfordshire woodland as a leafy antidote to industrial London. Macaskie was inspired by German ideas of Freikörperkultur (which translates as 'free body culture'), a movement dedicated to outdoor wellness. He called his nudist utopia Spielplatz, which means 'Playground'. Spielplatz residents came for freedom, not politics. In the 1950s the resort attracted druids, Wiccans and vegetarians – free-thinkers in a buttoned-up post-war world. Today the club offers glamping breaks and even lunchtime swims for time-pressed nudists. 'Before the Victorians,' continues Welch, 'the concept of having a special set of clothing just to go and get it wet would have been as laughable as some people find being naked now.' Naturism's journey to acceptance has navigated choppy water. During the discontent of 1979, for example, Brighton councillor Eileen Jakes tabled a motion to reserve 200 yards of shingle for naked bathers in order to boost tourism. To prove the concept worked, Jakes passed around topless photos of herself taken in Ibiza. Fellow Brighton councillor John Blackman was having none of it. 'A flagrant exhibition of mammary glands,' Blackman thundered. 'What distresses me is that people naively believe what is good for the Continent is good for Britain.' In my experience as a naturist, the Continent has always had a rosy indifference to nudity. Textile-free beaches in the Balearics are Edens for all ages. In Germany, most thermal spas are nude. At bare-all campsites like Koversada in Croatia, happy campers perform aquarobics and windsurfing in the buff, as if they've simply forgotten to get dressed that morning. Accoutrements associated with naked bathing in Britain – knotted hankies, dirty postcards, Sid James – are anathema to our continental cousins. A handful of naturist destinations, like Cap d'Agde in the South of France, are swinger-orientated. You don't have to erect a tentpole to understand what goes on at the campsite. If you get caught in someone's gaze, while they suggestively fist-pump a Calippo, it can only mean one thing. By comparison British naturist beaches like St Osyth in Essex, with its tickle-your-cheeks sand, have an Adam and Eve innocence. Unless your OnlyFans preference is for middle-aged couples holding hands behind a windbreak, the scene is decidedly unsexy. Compare that to the widespread availability of pornography, which promotes body perfection and – in some cases – sexual violence. A windswept nude beach seems like a beacon of tolerance by contrast. Perhaps that's why the liberty of strolling starkers along the sand is appealing to a new generation. Like nudism pioneer Macaskie a century ago, swapping the confines of capitalism for the freedom of nature has evergreen appeal. 'There's something incredibly liberating about stripping away not just clothes,' agrees Estelle Keeber, a social media expert, 'but all the pressures and expectations that come with them.' Keeber is fairly new to naturism but has become a keen advocate. 'It's amazing how much body confidence and self-acceptance you gain when you start seeing yourself (and others) as just people, without all the filters.' When clothes are discarded, egos follow. Since starting her new Instagram account @nakedadventurewithme, Keeber found it 'eye-opening to connect with so many like-minded people'. She is excited about the Great British Skinny Dip, a series of wild swims organised by British Naturism and the British Heart Foundation. Keeber has found a sense of tribal belonging. Albeit within a tribe that seldom turns on their washing machine. For Brits, naturism quite simply means a return to nature – an opportunity to bathe, birdwatch or camp in the nude. In these straightened times, participants don't even need to buy a new bikini. Just a bottle of SPF 50.
