May 17th and 18th, 2008, France will hold its first annual naturist fair at Héliomonde, a nudist club near Paris. Part trade show, many of France’s naturist businesses will have information booths during the fair. The event is organized by “France 4 Naturiste”, a coalition of 11 French clubs, including Euronat.

France is often regarded as a pioneer in nudism, even boasting a nudist city at Cap d’Agde, where anything people do dressed, you can do naked, whether it be going to the bank or the supermarket. French practisioners of the lifestyle are said to number in the millions.

All are welcome to the conference, and access to the grounds is free, although you’re required to register at the fair’s website (link below) before attending. Needless to say, full nudity will be obligatory, as clothing isn’t an option in most of France’s clubs.

Le Salon du Naturisme web site [in French]

VERACRUZ, MEXICO - Yesterday, a 34 year-old man visiting from Chiapas state decided to take a dip off Playa Linda in Veracruz, Mexico, wearing only the suit he was born with. As it was a day of national celebration, there were a lot people to witness the incident and it wasn’t long before the man was arrested and led away. He was released later after paying a fine.
It’s worth noting that while there’s a growing number of nudist resorts in Mexico, as well as one legal nude beach (Zipolite, Oaxaca), it’s still a fervently Catholic country where being seen naked in a public place can get you in a heap of trouble.

Phèdre is a 17th century tragedy written by Racine, one of the great French playwrights. As such, the classic has been acted-out in front of audiences thousands of times, but never like the current version running at the Salle du Faubourg, in Geneva, Switzerland: The five actors are completely naked throughout the performance.
Not only are the actors nude, but the play is “interactive”: The stage is in the center of the audience, and the performers at times walk down amongst the spectators while reciting their lines. The nudity is completely non-erotic and no effort is made to camouflage any of the actors’ physical imperfections.
The show closes today (May 4th, 2008).

Article in French which includes a photo

While Europe is generally a good place to practice naturism and has a higher percentage of nudists than any other region, Italy is one of the few exceptions. Our insider and contributor in Italy, Pierantonio, related to us the hard facts about nudism in his country…

“Naturism isn’t very common in Italy”, begins Pierantonio, “…because it is often considered a shameful way of life by a lot of people, especially by old people linked to Italian traditions…(particularly) older catholic people”. He goes on to tell us that there are some beaches in Italy where nudism is “tolerated”, but nowhere is it legal, except at two in the Emilia Romagna region, the only one has a law protecting naturist from prosecution. That bill was passed in 2006, thanks to persistent lobbying by ANER (Emilia Romagna Naturist Association).

Thus, Pierantonio tells us, you practice nudism in most of Italy at the risk of being arrested or fined. He points-out, however, that most Italian courts will show lenience towards nudists charged with public lewdness, often acquitting them. He estimates there are approximately 500,000 nudists in Italy, and the vast majority must travel abroad to enjoy their lifestyle.

One of the problems facing the acceptance of naturism in Italy are the hordes of voyeurs and other sexual deviants who invade nudist beaches, he says. This is a common problem at any public nudist beach the world over, but more so where public nudity is uncommon.

New York native Spencer Tunick continues his long term project of photographing massive numbers of nudes in one take, this time taking to the streets of Cork (June 17) and Dublin (June 21), two major cities in Ireland.
Tunick has already started his volunteer model recruitment drive via a website dedicated to the event ((www.spencertunickireland.ie). Public nudity is illegal in Ireland, but the artist usually has no problems getting cities to host and fund his installations, as they’re prestigious events which receive enormous press coverage around the globe.
Tunick will also shoot in Vienna, Austria, on May 11, this time with a football theme in honor of the European championship which will take place in that city in June. Tunick hopes to beat his old record of 18,000 thousand nude participants, as the shoot location will be the Ernest Happel stadium, which has a 50,000 capacity.

More Spencer Tunick stories