A bare look at nudist history in Seattle

In Seattle, we tend to like to keep things au naturel — our mountains, our waters, our... selves?

Yes — whether you’re aware or not, Seattle has quite the culture around keeping things pretty bare.

From the hundreds of naked bike riders parading throught Fremont each summer solstice to the recent defense of Denny Blaine Park , it’s clear Seattle likes being naked. Heck — in Seattle, it’s even perfectly legal to be out and about in your birthday suit (assuming you’re not making anyone nearby intentionally uncomfortable) .

And what better way to uncover our part in supporting nude agendas than with a little history lesson during Nudist History Month ?

Let’s strip it down.

World Naked Gardening Day

Ever heard of it? Each year on the first Saturday in May , thousands of green-thumbed nature lovers across the globe head out into their gardens for a day of butt-naked yard work.

Why? Because it feels nice , according to co-founder and Seattleite Mark Storey. The event started right here in 2005 as a way to enjoy being nude without needing to engage in the very popular (but physically exhausting) World Naked Bike Ride .

Denny Blaine Park

Requests for Denny Blaine to become clothing-optional dates back as early as the 1930s , but was popularized in the 1970s by groups of predominantly lesbian women who began swimming topless at the beach. However, it would not be until the the mid-2000s to mid-2010s when nudity became more accepted and less likely to result in lewd conduct citations.

Solstice Cyclists

This annual tradition — and arguably the most popular nude-centric thing we do — started back in the 1990s when a few naked bike riders crashed the Fremont Solstice Parade. The number of people involved in that first ride and and its exact start date are still up for debate.