The NKD festival held last weekend served as a timely reminder of the power and the potential that can be found within the organisation.
Young British Naturism (YBN) is a subgroup of 18-35 year olds within British Naturism to support the interests of younger members and has exhibited much growth over the last seven years. Nowhere is the growth more evident than in NKD itself. Launched in 2018, NKD initially depended on subsidy plus patronage from seasoned members as there simply weren’t enough young members to run a youth festival. It quickly passed the subsidy requirement and then passed a key milestone last year when it became self-sustaining without needing seasoned guests to fill the coffers. Youth Naturism was now viable in its own right in the UK. This year was the biggest NKD we have ever held, we welcomed 222 guests and, impressively, 74% of them were under 40 years of age. Let that sink in. Young Naturists are not unicorns, they are commonplace, and British Naturism has only just set foot on the road to engaging them. More impressive than the numbers was the energy of YBN this weekend. Projects to promote Naturism and youth Naturism were brewing and even being launched this weekend, such as the new video content that YBN are leading. It is the rapid growth in youth that has allowed us to launch the second festival, Everybody, this year and be confident of success. This second major event targets non-members and those with a casual interest in nude recreation, as well as our existing younger members. Everybody and NKD have overlapping, but not identical principles and sit alongside our existing and expanding portfolio for long-standing members.
Significantly, there were a lot of new people at NKD. These were people that had never tried an event before or even social nudity before and found confidence in NKD. The supportive and respectful environment they found in the NKD community made the experience greater than they expected and means that they are now eager to be involved in more things. Kelsey provides the perfect example and some real insight. I have known Kelsey for years, being naked is pretty much what she does and has always considered herself a solitary Naturist, but never crossed the invisible barrier of group events. NKD has changed that, and this is how we progress. Kelsey wants to attend more events such as Everybody, NKD next year, and potentially other things. But crucially, she does not plan on attending alone, she will be bringing her friends, Naturism is moving into the sights of the festival crowd as the common interests become obvious. The doors are opening to the young, nude-positive community because they are starting to see that British Naturism can offer what they want. However, the impact is even greater than that. Kelsey observed that I had told her that some events traditionally have a skewed demographic composition towards older members so could be a poorer fit. They are great events, but young people could feel out of place because they would not meet their peers there. Her response is simple. That will not be true if she brings enough people. She can broaden the demographic profile so all events are appealing. This is how we win. We have created an opportunity for new, young people to dip their toe in but from this point it could take on a life of its own.
For those inspired by these ideas, the Everybody festival is the one for you and can be found here.
So, I want to thank everybody who came this weekend and for the many conversations I had. You are all amazing, you are the future of body confidence in the UK, and you have restored my energy.