May Day/World Naked Gardening Day, 2021!

The tradition is for the very first day of May to be determined as May Day. The promoted date for World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) is the first Saturday in May, annually. This year, 2021, we bare practitioners and other naturists/nudists are honored in having a double reason to be glad that today is here! It’s a simultaneous occasion!

May Day:

Bare practitioners customarily observe the May Day event dutifully in their respective birthday suits (we are all born naked, hence the name), as it is usually warm enough throughout much of the world for a majority of us to comfortably do so. In a casual riddle: “strip off all your clothes and wiggle all your toes!”

In liturgical Christian populations (Orthodox and Roman Catholic) the month of May is celebrated with flowers and colorful ribbons in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos (Mother of God). In many countries, May is also the month of Mother’s Day observances. Nature contributes to the festivity as many bushes and flowers are blooming at this time. This led to the establishment of the May Day ritual of the customary may-pole using colorful ribbons and Spring flowers!

In the former Soviet Union (Russia) and other communist-dominated states, the day was one of military parades featuring armed troops forward towards projected world domination. The dissolution of the USSR and anti-communist revolutions have largely eliminated this short-lived occurrence.

In predominantly secular nations and societies, the month of May is often used to promote organized and productive labor. A salute and tribute to workers in all categories and professions – agriculture, industries and services. In other words, “keep their morale high and profits will soar!” Of course, it is always government and management who monitor the score on morale and profits!

No matter the instance or the situation, this is one day out of the year virtually all of us have a reason to feel happy and joyful and comfortable while totally clothes-free!

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World Naked Gardening Day:

World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) was first observed on September 10, 2005. It was founded and organized by Mark Storey, a consulting editor for Nude & Natural magazine and permaculturist Jacob Gabriel as a project of Body Freedom Collaborative (BFC). World Naked Gardening Day is endorsed by The Naturist Society, Clothes Free International and the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR).

In 2007, the date for the WNGD was moved from the second Saturday in September to the first Saturday in May, annually. In 2018, the New Zealand Naturist Federation adopted the last weekend in October as WNGD as that time was better suited to the climate of the Southern Hemisphere.

Organizers and gardeners alike concur that “besides being liberating, nude gardening is second only to swimming as an activity that people are most ready to consider doing nude.” During the fifth annual WNGD in the United Kingdom, in 2010, participants were encouraged to engage naked in either their private gardens or in public parks.

The following poem is directly from the WNGD website:

Seasonal Interchange

by Michael Ailken

In Winter, when the trees are bare,

we mortals don our winter wear.

In Spring when trees begin to dress,

we mortals then start wearing less.

Until, for some, with Summer’s heat,

The role reversal is complete!

For additional information on WNGD, click below to visit their website:

World Naked Gardening Day

To everyone visiting here, Happy May Day! and Happy World Naked Gardening Day!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next planned post entry here is for tomorrow, May 2, 2021 and the proposed subject is “Holy Easter.”