Snaps from the Weird and Wonderful Adult-Only Weekend Parties at Butlin’s Resort, a Hotspot for British Tourists

For years, photographer Anna Fox has been documenting Butlin’s resort, a tourist hotspot in Bognor Regis, a seaside town of West Sussex. Since it’s opening in the 1930‘s, it’s been considered an institution in British tourism. The resort is famed for it’s family friendly attractions and activities, but recently, in an attempt to attract a different kind of tourist, once every six weeks, Butlin’s began hosting adult only themed weekends, including “Back to the 60’s” and “Hot Summer Party.” The resulting series, Resort 2, the second part of her series created at Butlin’s, looks into the weird and wonderful culture of these adult getaways.

Stepping into the resort during it’s exclusive adult-only weekends, you’d spot men and women dressed in costumes as diverse as Elvis, Rastafarians or Borat wearing that infamous, lime green swimsuit. People who attend these weekends are looking for two things – an escape from their nine-to-five daily routines and a good party.

Photographed with both medium and large format cameras and an external flash, the photos, both candid and posed portraits, give us insight into the strange world of holiday camp culture in England. “These adult parties are a really modern phenomena and it felt exciting to be able to record these,” she said in a recent interview. “I am really keen to be recording things like this for posterity and I am also keen to develop my documentary archive on Southern English life.”

All images © Anna Fox

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