The northern Greek city of Thessaloniki is to hold its 3rd World Naked Bike Ride (WBNR) on Friday, June 4 as a demonstration against “the exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution that they generate”.
“We are promoting the bicycle as a means of transport that contributes to lessening dependence on oil while at the same time supporting the elimination of guilt about the naked body,” said the chief organiser of the event Constantinos Terzopoulos.
Nakedness is optional but not mandatory, with riders encouraged to go “as bare as you dare”. About 500 people are expected to participate in the bike ride this year, some naked and others wearing body paint or enlisting art to decorate themselves and their bikes in what organisers describe as the “most extreme peaceful action that one can carry out”.
“Painted and decorated bodies and bicycles, natural decoration, accessories, colours and music will be our weapons in striving for cities that are ever more friendly to people and bicycles,” organisers said.
The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is a global movement that began in 2004 and has now spread to more than 70 cities throughout the world, each of which organise an annual WNBR to promote the use of bicycles and celebrate the human body. The first ride in Greece was organised in the city of Thessaloniki on June 27, 2008 and the following year on June 4, 2009.
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