Naturism is “on the up”, says Josh Sims in Inside Hook. Why? Because, after the pandemic, “nothing better encapsulates a sense of personal freedom than getting naked”. Naked comedy nights, dinners and bike rides are all the rage. British Naturism has reportedly seen membership increase by 20%. This month will see the launch of NKD, the first naked festival in the UK, held in Dorset. May, for those who missed it, marked World Naked Gardening Day.
The young regard naturism as a “natural bedfellow” to pursuits such as environmentalism. Laurent Luft, president of the International Naturist Federation, says his members come in “all shapes and sizes” – which, “after the inevitable momentary sizing up”, has a great levelling effect. “There just aren’t that many Greek gods.”
Covid’s not the worst festival fate
The festival season is well and truly under way, and social media is awash with “hungover teens brandishing positive lateral flow tests”, says Sarah Vine in the Daily Mail. It’s hardly surprising – there’s nowhere better for a contagious virus to multiply than “a load of sweating, snogging bodies falling drunkenly on top of each other”. But I don’t mind if my 16-year-old comes back from Reading with Covid. If the worst that happens amid a sea of boozy, druggy teens is that he tests positive, “I’ll consider myself a lucky mum.”