Grassy fields and rows of tents and campervans are exactly what you’d expect to see at a festival. But while you might expect to see some revellers in revealing outfits, at Nudestock there are no outfits at all!
When I was asked to go along to experience it for myself, my main concern was the location, Doncaster in South Yorkshire isn’t exactly known for its clement weather and I don’t like being cold.
The festival is well established, it was the brain child of nudists Colin and Carol Wood, who first ran the event in 2010. Sadly Colin died in 2022, but his daughter Angie Cox, 43, is still very much involved on both the farm and with the event.
When I arrived on the farm in the village of Finningley, near Doncaster, I got chatting to Angie, who told me, “I’ve been a naturist since I was two, when mum and dad discovered naked swimming on a beach during a particularly hot summer. We’ve all been naturists ever since, regularly going on naked swims, holidays and of course we’re naked a lot at home. I love being naked and I love festivals, so we combined the two!”  

As we talked people milled around in the buff – to start with my eyes were on stalks but I was surprised by how quickly I got used to seeing bare flesh – within an hour I stopped noticing.
I think I expected it to have a sexually charged atmosphere – after all everyone had their bits on show – but unless I was oblivious, there was no more flirting than you’d see at any other festival.
I got talking to various other festival goers, keeping my eyes firmly on their faces! One of the first people I met was Gregg*, a retired retail worker, who was 61 and his wife Anne*, a 58-year-old a bookseller. While Gregg had embraced naturism 10 years ago, Anne wasn’t so keen. She told me, “I go along with him to events that are fun but I keep my clothes on.”
And indeed there was a lot to do – like any other festival there were various bands playing, along with comedians. But there was so much more – including games and races. There’s something very comical about watching everyone doing an egg and spoon race in the buff – and no I didn’t partake, I was so busy giggling there’s no way my egg would have remained steady.

But I was very happy to have a massage, given by 52-year-old Paul* who was a fully qualified masseur, and had been giving massages butt naked for the past 12 years – it was an excellent massage and so easy to forget that he was naked.
And then I worked my way round the festival – keeping a beady eye on the whereabouts of the hot tub, should I need to warm up, but fortunately it was a lovely, sunny day and there were no goose bumps.
I was most surprised by the amount of activities on offer – there was everything from yoga and meditation to singing. And a raft of crafting opportunities from flower arranging to card making and people were even relaxing with a jigsaw.
Everyone was incredibly friendly, luckily not in a remotely lecherous way. And as the sun set the party was going full swing as we moved into a barn. The band kept their clothes on, but the majority of dancers were bopping away with their bits jiggling.
I started talking to Pam* and Phil*, both in their 50s. They were Nudestock virgins but they were determined the occasion would be the first of many, saying, “We’ll definitely be back, we love it – it’s so liberating.”
There was a brief break for a round of bingo before the dancing started again, culminating in the early hours with an enthusiastic conga.

Everyone retired to their tents and the next morning everyone was up and about having breakfast, with plenty of sausages sizzling away, before a morning hike around the farm followed. Then everyone limbered up for some more fun and games.
I found the whole thing strangely wholesome – it was lots of people just having fun. I didn’t witness any predatory behaviour, obviously people were affectionate with each other but nothing you wouldn’t have seen while strolling in the park – bar there being more on show. The crowd was generally an older one and what was lovely is how down to earth everyone was. There were people of all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life, there was no posing or showing off. But what they had was a confidence and happiness in their own skin, which I loved witnessing.
And the really good news – the loos were a hell of a lot cleaner than I’ve found at any other festival!
*names have been changed
https://candyfarmnudestock.co.uk/events