Real Naturist of the Year: Festival Nudista Zipolite

Image courtesy of organizers Festival Nudista Zipolite 2020.

Living in Taiwan, I know how difficult to create a naturist movement out of nothing. When you mention naturism to someone, a majority of people might not understand what it is, while the rest looks at you in revulsion because they know what it is either.
That's why I admire people who can stomp a naturist movement out of nothing and still be successful at it. The prime example of such is the Naturist Association of Thailand, a previous winner of my Real Naturist of the Year award, which in a relatively short time went from nowhere to being the largest naturist group in Asia, with several hotels and resorts launching to address the need for more naturism.
I now turn my attention away from Asia and to another part of the world that maybe, has not been known for large-scale naturism: Latin America. I am happy to say that there too, things are changing, in a positive way.
Mexico has had one official naturist beach for 3 years now: Zipolite, in the well-known state of Oaxaca on the country's west coast. It's not as popular or developed as the household names of Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta or Cancun, which might make it more difficult to reach and less easy to book hotel rooms as they fill up faster.
But Zipolite is now more than just a beach. To add to its naturist image, people have organized a full-blown annual festival which takes over the town in late January - early February. According to the media, the participants and visitors to the event have grown from a couple of hundred to several thousand, making it one of the largest nude and naturist events in the world.
What I personally approve it, is that the festival is not locked away behind the gates and walls of a private naturist resort, which of course has its own positives and negatives. The positive is that naturist values can be seen by everyone, and that outsiders who might have been hesitant before could be converted to non-sexual social nudity - naturism - by witnessing the event. The only potential negative I can see is of course that it draws people not interested in wholesome nudity, but that's why the festival is well-guarded and policed.
Because of the role the event plays in advocating naturism in Mexico, Latin America and beyond, this blog names the Festival Nudista Zipolite the winner of the Real Naturist of the Year Award for 2019.
The event has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1464381013859578/
If you're interested in the 2020 edition, from January 31 to February 3, another Real Naturist of the Year Award winner, the duo Naked Wanderings, will attend and report about the event. You can find their advice and comments for Zipolite at https://www.nakedwanderings.com/2019/12/16/visiting-zipolite-nudist-festival/
There are also several hotels operating on at least a clothing-optional basis in the area, such as the Hotel Nude: https://nudexplorer.com/?select=&lp_s_loc=Zipolite&lp_s_tag=&lp_s_cat=&s=home&post_type=listing