Exclusive | My wild weekend at the worlds biggest and naughtiest swingers convention

There are certain things a middle-aged man in NYC is expected to do after a divorce, and I did every last one of them.I dated eagerly, profligately — I learned everything there was to know about the apps, and I attacked them hungrily.

And I dabbled in the sex party scene New York is famous for — talk about an eye-opener. To put it bluntly — I was a manwhore. But what this city gets up to, I have since learned, is nothing compared to what goes down at Naughty N’Awlins, touted as the biggest and best swingers gathering of its kind in the world, taking place in — you guessed it — New Orleans. Held in three hotels at the heart of the Big Easy, Naughty N’Awlins is billed as an annual “alternative lifestyle convention”.Those brave enough to sign up for five days and four nights of play this year got to meet and mingle with more than 3,000 swingers, polyamorists, nudists, exhibitionists, voyeurs, fetishists, and BDSM fans.And me. Attendees could expect to see wife-swapping, threesomes, foursomes and moresomes.

I did – and then some.   Co-founder Bob Hannaford called 2026’s convention the “largest Lifestyle event ever.” Of those thousands of participants, the average ages were between 35 and 60, staying in more than 1,400 rooms near bawdy Bourbon Street.  This kind of party isn’t cheap — not including travel expenses, couples pay $850 each for the five days, four nights.That fee allows access to all Naughty N’Awlins happenings — daily classes (although some cost additional), socials, workshops, galas and, of course, lots of scheduled playtime. There was sex. Lots of sex.

There were topless pool parties at one hotel and nude pool parties at another.There were hot-wife scenes, people subjecting themselves to erotic flogging.

There were glory holes for anonymous encounters. Getting into the swing of things took some doing.At one point, my viewing of a World Cup match at a bar-side pool — because yes, real life was still...