Nudes-A Poppin:Voted One Of The Top Festivals In The World
I have been involved with this event for years. It still amazes me that people are just finding out about this in the adult industry since the rest of the world has been raving about it for so long. I will have another report on the show later tonight once my assignment is set.
BY: Konrad Marshall
Source: www.indy.com and www.askmen.com
Nudes-A-Poppin started out as a harmless beauty contest among Ponderosa members, but has evolved over the years to the point that it barely resembles the event it once was.
Porn legend Ron Jeremy has been coming to Nudes-A-Poppin for 25 years. Kiss frontman Gene Simmons is a regular. Kid Rock makes appearances often.
More than 5,000 people turn out for the event, often camping on resort grounds for the weekend, rain or shine. And the naked extravaganza is only set to grow.
A crew from Playboy Channel will be in town this year, filming the weekend for the television series “69 Sexiest Things to Do Before You Die.” HBO’s “Real Sex” has done a show here before. Askmen.com recently ranked Nudes-A-Poppin the 10th best festival of any kind in North America. And Stuff magazine last year ranked Nudes-A-Poppin eighth — one place below Germany’s Oktoberfest — in a list of best all-round festivals the world over.
There’s a nude dance contest, wet T-shirt contests, and the event draws 75 to 100 professional adult-entertainment industry performers, from dancers to porn stars to nude models, all of whom vie and compete for titles like Ms. Nude Galaxy, Ms. Nude North America and Nude Entertainer of the Year.
“It’s more of a couples thing,” said club owner Scarlett Schmitt. “Not just guys. A lot of couples come to the event.”
In addition to Jeremy, Simmons and Rock, other “celebrities” to grace the grounds of Ponderosa in July include comedians Andy Dick and Gilbert Gottfried, musicians John Popper (of Blues Traveler) and Vanilla Ice, as well as other familiar names, such as Cory Feldman.
Nudes-A-Poppin is essentially a fundraiser designed to keep Ponderosa’s club membership rates low — a necessary evil of sorts. A new feature this year that’s sure to bring in a few extra dollars is this Saturday’s magazine photo shoot.
Every year, Nudes-A-Poppin allows photographers from Cherry magazine to capture a full spread of images before the event, which has never been open to the public. But this year the public is allowed in — for a fee — and can shoot their own images, too.
The whole weekend is basically a wild event held at a place Schmitt insists is usually free of carnality. Still, Schmitt acknowledges that Nudes-A-Poppin could be responsible for Ponderosa having a reputation as a swinger’s paradise — a notion she and other club members flatly deny, but which requires some clarification.
“Nudism is not one simple doctrine,” said Schmitt. “It evolves over time, but there are also some very traditional, conservative nudists. Many camps don’t allow guests to bring alcohol, for instance. Other nudist clubs are not comfortable with people who have prominent piercings. It was the same with tattoos 30 years ago.”
Erich Schuttauf, executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation, acknowledged that some nudist resorts do have strict policies, while others are more accepting.
“But whether it is a person’s body adornment, or behavior, or whether they bring a beer with them, the first and foremost concern is the comfort of the other guests,” he said.
As for my own comfort, it was actually waning. Not the nudity, mind you. That was fine.
My discomfort came with the somewhat foolish decision to play tennis in the nude without shoes or socks.
Cappel and I weren’t keeping score or even playing competitively, but I was still running across the concrete court with force, crouching low for a muscular backhand, stretching wide to reach a passing shot, naked. Bad naked, that is.
But I was having fun, and getting an all-over tan. And what began as a two-minute chance to play tennis turned into a 20-minute romp.
Having worked up a sweat, I made my way poolside. Someone was reading a sci-fi novel on a deck chair. Another person was catching some rays while smoking a cigarette and sipping a morning coffee.
A nearby bulletin board broadcast a message about an upcoming blood pressure wellness screening, and a chalk board noted that hot dogs and s’mores would be the poolside feature for the evening.
Cappel said I simply had to take a swim before I left the premises. I figured I had already fallen headfirst into my assignment, so I balanced myself by the water’s edge, and dove into the deep end, and swam freely, breaststroke, freestyle and sidestroke.
Then I rolled over for a few moments of look-at-all-of-me backstroke. No one batted an eye.
A group of a dozen nude strangers soon joined in the water, including Cappel, taking a quick dip before her drive north to a White Sox game.
“There’s nothing like swimming in the nude,” she said. “And if everybody else is in the nude, you don’t even notice.”
Nudes-a-poppin ‘08
When: Sunday, July 20. Gates open 8.a.m. Preshow at 10 a.m. Show at noon.
Where: Ponderosa Sun Club, Roselawn.
Directions: Take I-65 to Exit 230. Head west on Ind. 10 for 2 miles, and take the first right after the railroad tracks. The club is a half-mile down on the left.
Tickets: $55 in advance; $60 at the gate. (A single ticket will allow a person OR a couple entry.)
Info: (219) 345-2268 or www.nudes-a-poppin.com
Extra: On Saturday, July 19, from 11.a.m. to 5 p.m., Ponderosa Sun Club will be holding a pre-Nudes-A-Poppin “Meet and Greet Day,” at which visitors will be able to meet the Sunday showgirls and bring a camera for various photo spreads. (The price of admission Saturday is $50, and is open only to guests with tickets for Sunday’s event.)
Note: The Ponderosa Sun Club Family Nudist Resort is open May through September, and is usually a nude resort (NOT clothing-optional), with no cameras allowed. However, for the weekend of Nudes-A-Poppin, guests are allowed to wear clothes and bring cameras.
