A massive nudist festival is set to go ahead despite concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the first weekend in February for the past five years, more than 4,000 nude revelers have been gathering at Zipolite (beach of the dead) on the southern coast of Mexico for the Festival Nudista Zipolite.
Organised by the Federación Nudista de México, the festival takes place on the country's first and only legal nude beach.
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And despite the country having recorded more than 1.4 million cases of the deadly disease, with over 130,000 Covid-related deaths in the past year, the hotly-anticipate event is expected to go ahead as planned.
According to reports, officials in the town of Zipolite have agreed to hold the festival as long as the country's protocols are met.
Benjamín Martínez López, a representative of Bienes Comunales, has claimed that organisers and the Health Secretariat of San Pedro Pochutla have confirmed the event should be fine to go ahead.
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He said it represents an opportunity for the town to recoup some of the money it has lost as a result of the pandemic.
Adverts for Festival Nudista Zipolite 2021 have urged visitors to take extra precautions if they are planning to attend.
One such message says: "If you have airline and hotel reservations, bring your masks and sanitising items with you or if you still don't have reservations, we invite you to stay home."
Last year, Waterworld in Stoke-on-Trent sparked controversy after announcing another of its nude family swims.
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The skinny dipping session has received criticism in the past, including a paedophile hunter group who protested against the event that is open to adults and children of all ages.
Nonetheless, this year the organisation is going ahead with what it describes as the 'biggest waterpark event of the year' 26 September.
Organiser British Naturism defended the gathering, stating that it would safeguard its members from both paedophiles and those vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic.
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In a statement, a spokesman said: "British Naturism is an organisation that has been in existence for over 50 years with many of our clubs being even older. We have a membership of 9,000 over 18s.
"We take our safeguarding and health and safety responsibility seriously and review our practices in advance of every event we run.
"We have a robust child and vulnerable adults safeguarding policy - it's actually rather ignorant of the complainers to assume that we don't.
"We also have a strict 'no cameras' rule with any photographs to record the event only being taken by our official photographer, who follow certain guidelines about what can be taken.
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"Children at our events are always supervised by their parents and not allowed to attend unaccompanied - unlike schools, churches, scouts, play areas and other venues where parents opt to leave their children in the care of others."
Topics: Science, Beach, World News, Coronavirus, Mexico, Health, Covid-19